NLS Faculty Seminar | Presentations by Dr. Dayal Paleri and Dr. Sneha Thapliyal

There will be two presentations at this week’s seminar by Dr. Dayal Paleri, Assistant Professor, Social Science, and Dr. Sneha Thapliyal, Associate Professor, Economics. The seminar will be held on April 23, 2025, in the Ground Floor Conference Hall at NLSIU’s Training Centre at 3:45 pm.

Presentation 1

Title: ‘Reconstructing Cheraman: Communal Harmony as Politics of Belonging in Contemporary Kerala’ by Dr. Dayal Paleri.

Abstract

This paper examines how the Muslims of Kodungallur, in Kerala, faced with the rise of Hindu nationalist politics that increasingly problematize Muslim belonging in shared sacred and public spaces, engage in a renewed articulation of religious coexistence, primarily through the language of communal harmony (mathasouhardam). The articulation of communal harmony by the Muslims of Kodungallur is centered around the space of the Cheraman Juma Masjid, believed to be the first mosque in India, associated with the legendary king Cheraman Perumal. Based on the ongoing ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Kodungallur since 2021, the paper closely follows the process of the mosque’s reconstruction and situates it within both the local political dynamics of Kodungallur and the broader context of national politics.

Moving away from scholarship that has largely highlighted the instrumentalist nature of communal harmony as a discourse produced by dominant or state actors, the paper shifts the focus to minority articulations. It asks two inter-related questions: Can communal harmony be conceptualized as an active political process that involves actors, agential networks, and conscious articulations of political community? And, what political work does such a discourse perform when articulated by Muslim actors in the context of Hindu nationalism?

The paper argues that communal harmony is mobilized in Kodungallur as a strategic response to the contemporary challenge of Hindu nationalism and is used to affirm Muslim belonging across three interconnected sites: everyday life, historical memory, and the legal-constitutional realm. These are not peripheral, but constitutive dimensions of national membership. The paper conceptualizes this articulation as a politics of belonging that combines aspects of different trajectories of Muslim politics in postcolonial India-minority rights, claims of social backwardness, civic participation, and a redefined language of self-protection-without reifying or effacing Muslim religious identity. The paper suggests that such articulations of communal harmony offer an incipient possibility for reimagining Muslim citizenship in India today, especially in the face of an increasingly constricted experience of citizenship under Hindutva politics.

Presentation 2

Title: ‘Who Dares Wins? Framework for Environmental Justice Movements: Empirical Review of Biodiversity Conservation Related Movements’ by Dr. Sneha Thapliyal.

Abstract

Conflicts to attain environmental justice typically arise when the affected stakeholder group(s) is(are) concerned about adverse environmental and socio-economic impacts of a decision by the state. Such environmental justice movements (EJMs) vary in strategies used for and intensity of mobilisation, desired outcomes, and consequently, in their success. Combining literature from EJMs and the rich scholarship in the socio-political research on mobilisations in general, this paper aims to: (i) develop a comprehensive framework on EJMs from the start of the mobilisations to outcome; and (ii) present an empirical assessment of this framework in the context of biodiversity (BD) related EJMs across the world.

Internal (affected communities) and external stakeholders (organisations aligned to the cause of mobilisation) have mobilisation potential, which gets triggered leading to mobilisation. This mobilisation can be conventional or disruptive based on the intensity and duration of the conflict and intermediate state interventions/responses. To determine the impact of the factors identified in our proposed framework on mobilisation intensity and success of an EJM, we use the global data from EJAtlas online on biodiversity-related EJMs. Biodiversity related conflicts arise frequently and across the globe primarily due to the exclusionary economic growth and conservation practices. Further, the biodiversity-related EJ movements are embedded in different historical, socio-economic, and political contexts across varied types of ecosystems. Yet, despite the uniqueness of the context of each conflict, scholars argue that EJ movements are global in nature. Thus, there is merit in empirically investigating the common denominator in biodiversity-related EJ movements across the globe. Using multiple empirical strategies, we find that the networks (type of organisation involved), cultural framing (ecosystem services), and stage of the project affect the intensity of mobilisation. We also find that intensity of disruptive mobilisations and the kind of interventions by the state affect the successful outcomes of biodiversity-related EJMs. These results contribute to the literature on environment policy by identifying the determinants of successful EJ movements for targeted interventions in reducing conflict.