Understanding Political Conflict and Alliance Formation A Case Study of Two Gram Panchayats in Kerala

Abstract

Political conflicts, in its various manifestations, are important producers of change that critically impact the lives of people who are under its wake. Alliances are important enablers that help conflict groups to consolidate resources. In dominant perspectives, the studies on political conflict are explored around the violent physical confrontations between contending groups. Alliances in such cases are explored around activities of balancing against or bandwagoning with the dominant power. In democracies like India, along with physical contentions, the political conflicts are understood around electoral activities. In such cases, alliances are observed through the post and pre-election power-sharing activities. A major limitation with these perspectives in engaging with political conflicts and alliances is the dependence on events and outcomes. This dependence creates a stagnation on interests, groups and activities that are repetitively considered to be political, but this demarcation may not be clearly present. One instance of the dynamic nature of political conflict and alliances can be perceived when dominant issues and actors that operate in the political space varies within and between societies. This highlights that the manufacturing of binaries between social and political is not a concrete distinction on factors but one that is stemmed on the nature of society. Similarly, the dynamic nature of alliance formation around multiple conflicts can be seen when groups that conflict with each other on some issues, are allies on another. The PhD study explores these dynamics of political conflict and alliances through ethnographic studies conducted in two Gram Panchayats in Kerala- Munnar and Kizhakkambalam. The study expresses its findings through some of the critical themes of political conflict and alliance formation. A major theme of the study re-engages with the conceptual understanding on political conflicts and the formation of alliances. The second theme looks at the nature of political conflict in the