Evaluating Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad as a New Social Movement

Abstract

Of late there has been a remarkable spurt in the consciousness of common people which largely remains unnoticed and unserved by institutional structures that prevails and exploits the masses. People’s organizations have played a crucial role in the spurt of consciousness of common people and creating a different society with better access to institutions, plans, programmes, information and knowledge system and free from exploitative forces. Kerala Satra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) is a people's organization with a decentralized demo­cratic structure and democratic mode of functioning. It operates in the area of education, environment, ecology, health, resource management, consumer consciousness, women's issues, national integration, etc. All the activities of KSSP are social and meant for changing the values and lifestyles of the people through mass mobilization. It is trying to liberate knowledge and take it to the common people at the grassroots level. At present KSSP is considered as one of the largest People's Science Movements (PSMs) of India. The author in the present paper has tried to explain the evolution of KSSP. He has also evaluated the KSSP in terms of its organizations and programmes. Finally, the status of KSSP as a New Social Movement (NSM) has been ascertained in light of theoretical expositions of well-known social scientists.