Democracy and the Politics of Dress, Color and, Symbols: An Anthropological Study of Kerala Politics

Abstract

Dhoti colors have apparent political meaning in contemporary Kerala. Communists have started wearing red dhoti in private and public life recently, to counter the rampant visibility of saffron dhoti, which signifies Hindu religious identity in a shared meaning that exist in villages across north Kerala, and the same dhoti has also turned as the symbol of right-wing Hindu political parties, the political rival of the Communist party in the state. Earlier, the saffron dhoti was very popular among Hindus in Kerala, without any political differences—liberal Hindus, right-wing political Hindus, secular Hindus, and communist Hindus used to wear the saffron dhoti in public life, and to an extent, the saffron dhoti had become a crucial part of the religious piety of Hindu men and a religious symbol of mobility among Hindus. Through understanding the process of making meaning and other apparatus for political mobilization, this article argues that the ideological differences between right-wing Hindu nationalist organizations and Communist party does not exist at microlevel village politics, where there is a crucial similarity between political parties in mobilizing people and other activities of politics in a social democratic system.