Ethnic Structure Research Articles

Население Дагестана 1930–1945 гг.: историко-демографический аспект

The article examines demographic processes in Dagestan during one of the dramatic periods in the history of the country. On the basis of the All-Union Population censuses of 1937, 1939, and special literature, the number, sex and age composition, ethnic structure, and demography of the family are characterized. Of particular relevance is the study of the demographic development of such a peculiar region as Dagestan, with its motley ethnic picture. The conclusion is formulated that during the studied period there were fundamental changes in the demographic composition of Dagestanis: natural growth and mechanical growth, the ratio of urban and rural population.

Serbian Programs for the Expulsion of Albanian Kosovars from Kosovo Between Two World Wars

The purpose of the research paper is treat of the forced displacement of Albanians from Kosovo to Albania in the years 1918-1941 by the Serbian government through various programs. Serbian programs for the expulsion of Albanians, initiated since the ‘Načertanije’ (‘Draft Plan’) of 1844, did not cease throughout the entire 20th century. Between the two World Wars, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes – Yugoslavia drew up a large number of programs against the Albanians, where the key point was the displacement of Albanians from their lands and the reversal of the demographic structure to the detriment of the Albanians people, applying various methods and measures of violence.
 The scientific novelty. Until the 1930s, Serbian circles assessed that these measures had not yielded the desired effects, thus it was necessary to continue with several programs and strategies that would lead to a large-scale ethnic cleansing of Albanians by expelling them from their lands or assimilating them. This paper deals with all the Serbian programs and plans which were applied by means of three main actions such as forced displacement, colonization and agrarian reform.
 Conclusions. Based on what we have discussed, there is no doubt that the policy of Serbian government’s violence against Albanians materialized through these infamous programs. The Serbian authorities had primary intentions of ethnic cleansing and changing the ethnic structure in the regions where Albanians predominated. The expulsion of Albanians occurred according to these programs, as the Serbian government had institutionalized and utilized these various programs to achieve its goals. During this period, Albanians faced all the measures of violence from the state apparatus in Belgrade, their lives deteriorated day by day in all spheres of life, and as a result, an extremely large number of them were forced to be displaced and leave their homelands. The policy of Greater Serbia ideology did not cease, not only in this period but throughout the entire 20th century.

Teaching Dalit Bahujan Utopias: Notes from the Classroom

The production of knowledge in India operates within a rarefied domain enclosed within the structures of caste, class, ethnicity and gender. This has enabled the unabashed peddling of one-dimensional epistemology of glorifying the past, justifying the prevalent social hierarchies and manufacturing consent for the existing social order. Periodically, the status quo was interrogated and the resultant debates are secreted within the pages of history. Rarely if ever, these contestations become a part of the pedagogy thereby igniting a quest for a more emancipatory social apparatus. This is not surprising as the reproduction of the symbolic power needs to be closely guarded. The ancient world considered land as the paramount resource and wars were waged to capture more territories. For the industrialized societies, capital was the source of sustenance but in the modern era, privilege and power based on knowledge is the magic mantra, the currency of socio-economic relations. This article revolves around the attempts made by the researcher to introduce a full-fledged course on Dalit Bahujan Political Thought1 at the Masters level in Delhi University. This intervention was opposed by the entrenched academia hailing from the privileged castes who wished to perpetuate their Brahmanicalweltanschaung. The texts/readings prescribed for the course were sought to be banned by the higher authorities. The pantheon of thinkers who advocated an Indian version of liberation theology was never engaged with at an ideological level. The everyday engagements with the students who joined the course and their interactions in the classrooms provide a multi-layered understanding of negotiating utopias. This article is based on discussions with various stakeholders—academic committees who decide on pedagogy, feedback from students and classroom engagements for more than five years.

XVI. Yüzyılda İştip Kazasının Nüfusu ve Etnik Yapısı

Bu çalışmada, XIV. yüzyılın son çeyreğinde Osmanlı İmparatorluğu tarafından fethedilerek, XX. yüzyılın başlarına kadar yaklaşık 5-6 asır boyunca Osmanlı sınırları içerisinde kalan İştip kazasının genel olarak XVI. yüzyıldaki nüfusu ve etnik yapısı ele alınmış, ardından kısaca şehrin XIX ve XX. yüzyıldaki nüfusuyla ilgili bilgiler verildikten sonra göç konusuna değinilmiştir. Eski bir kaza merkezi olan İştip’in tarihi milattan önce 3. asra kadar uzanmaktadır. Osmanlı’dan önce şehir; Samuil Krallığı, Doğu Roma İmparatorluğu, Bulgar Devleti ve Sırp Krallığı gibi ülkelerin hâkimiyetinde kalmıştır. Tarihi süreçte nüfusu ve demografik yapısı birçok kez değişime uğrayarak günümüze ulaşmıştır. Osmanlı döneminde hâkimiyet Türklerin elinde iken, günümüzde Ortodoks Makedonların elindedir. XIX. yüzyılda Osmanlı İmparatorluğu coğrafyasında Üsküp sancağına bağlı önemli bir yerleşim merkezi olan İştip, günümüzde Kuzey Makedonya sınırları içerisinde yer almaktadır. Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi’nin “Tekkeler ve Zaviyeler Şehri” diye andığı şehirde günümüzde mevcut az sayıdaki Osmanlı eseri adeta Devlet-i Âliyye’yi temsil etmekte, şehir merkezinde bir hayli azalan Türk varlığı mümkün olduğunca Osmanlı mirası tarihi eserlere sahip çıkmaya çalışmaktadır.

Contemporary Demographic Development of the Republic of Bashkortostan: Review of the Regional Demographic Report

The article presents an overview of the collective scientific work revealing the features of the socio-demographic development of the region – the Demographic Report of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Based on official statistics and sociological research, the publication provides a comprehensive analysis of the processes of natural and migration movement of the population of the republic, examines some aspects of socio-economic development, as well as measures of regional social and demographic policy. The Demographic Report notes that the main trends of the Republic of Bashkortostan take place in the all-Russian context. These are the aging of the population, a decrease in the number of people of active working age; a decrease in the intensity of fertility, a decrease in the population of reproductive age, the dominance of reproductive attitudes towards childlessness; a change in the structure of mortality for reasons; transformation processes in the spheres of family and marriage (changes in value attitudes, marital behavior, etc.); centripetal, the nature of migration processes, high migration decline of young age groups. At the same time, the Demographic Report emphasizes that the general trends in the demographic development of Russia and Bashkortostan do not exclude that the processes of natural and migration movement of the population in the republic have their own specifics. This is due to the age, socio-territorial, ethnic structure of the population; the level of urbanization in the region; the existing system of urban and rural settlement; the peculiarities of socio-economic development of the republic and other factors. Socio-demographic indicators in Bashkortostan are also differentiated within the region, which is manifested at the sub-regional and municipal levels. The Demographic Report suggests measures in the areas of social and demographic policy. According to the authors, measures in the field of family and fertility, mortality and health, migration and employment should be closely interrelated and complement each other.

Factors affecting reproductive behaviour in Estonia in the 21st century

In Estonia where the population size is quite small (less than a million ethnic Estonians) the low birth rate has been a problem throughout known history.
 In Estonia as in other Eastern European countries, the so-called transition shock appeared in the 1990s after regaining independence. As a result of the shock, the birth rate fell sharply; the number of births in 1994–2000 was twice less than the number of births ten years earlier, in 1984–1990. Intensive migration also lasted for about 25 years, and, as a result, the population of Estonia decreased by more than for 250 000 people (one sixth of the population). The ethnic structure of the population of Estonia also changed. Depending on the direction and volume of foreign migration, the share of ethnic Estonians in the population, which was 61.5% in 1991, increased to 67.9% by the turn of the century.
 Postponing of births has been an important trend throughout the world, including in Estonia, in recent decades. In Estonia the average age of mothers who gave birth increased from 1991 to 2021 by almost 6 years. This means that, for 30 years, nearly a fifth of children were not born each year. The total fertility rate depends on the change in the average childbearing age. When the childbearing age increases (which has been happening in Estonia during the last 30 years), the total fertility rate (TFR) underestimates the average number of children born to a woman in her lifetime. Although TFR is relatively low in Estonia now, oscillating between 1.5 and 1.7, this does not mean that the average number of children born by a woman is so low.
 If a cohort of women (e.g., women born 45–49 years ago) has passed the fertile age, it is possible to determine the average number of children whom they actually gave birth during their lifetime. This indicator gives a much more optimistic picture about the fertility behaviour of Estonian women than TFR.
 Ethnic Estonian women are more active in giving birth than the women of other ethnic origins. On average, Estonian women aged 40+ have given birth to 2 children.

National minorities in the borderlands within the European Union on the example of Poles from Zaolzie Region

The article presents the conditions of the existence of the Polish ethnic minority in Zaolzie Region. Changes in the ethnic structure of the region since its incorporation into Czechoslovakia are characterised. Reference is made to broader factors affecting the quantitative changes of the Polish minority in Zaolzie Region, and an attempt is made to predict changes that may take place in the future in accordance with existing trends. The author also characterises the institutionalisation of cooperation between the authorities of the Polish State and the Polish minority in Zaolzie Region.

TRANSFORMATION OF MORDOVIAN VILLAGES IN BASHKIRIA: GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

At the beginning of the 20th century the Mordovian villages in the Fedorovsky district of the Bashkortostan Republic were characterized by the maximum growth rates and population density among settlements with another ethnic structure of the population. During the 20th century, the average population of Mordovian villages in the district decreased by 79%, and many of the settlements disappeared. High rates of depopulation of Mordovian villages within zone with favorable agro-climatic conditions have no analogues among villages with another ethnic structure of the population. The article provides a geographical analysis of a rapid growth of the Mordvins ethnic area in the 18-19th centuries and its reduction in the 20th century. Specific features of the development of Mordovian villages influenced by natural conditions (attraction to water sources and forest areas), the “periphery of settlement”, the peculiarities of the economic structure (gardening) and dominant psychological universals (closeness, individualism, etc.) are discussed. The evolution of factors driving the transformation of Mordovian villages at different stages of its development is described. The main factors of the “Mordovian village crisis” in the 20th-21st centuries - migration, institutional, economic and ethno-cultural, are identified. To demonstrate the scope of settlement transformation, a modern schematic map of the Alyoshkino (typical Mordovian) village has been compiled showing inhabited and inoccupied homesteads, abandoned and developed territories. Based on the results of in-depth interviews and characteristics of the population, the main groups of residents of the modern Mordovian village are identified: “old people”, “young families”, “new kulaks (farmers)” and “urban cottagers”.

Demographic structure and voting behaviour during democratization: evidence from Malaysia’s 2022 election

ABSTRACT Malaysia’s fifteenth general election (GE15) was a milestone in the country’s democratization process, with three major coalitions contesting for national power after years of political instability. In this article, we investigate how Malaysia’s cleavage structure – a central feature of Malaysia’s prior authoritarian regime – shapes electoral competition in a newly competitive political environment. We find that the ethnic structure remains central to explaining party strategy and coalition behaviour in GE15, but that more democratic competition has increased the salience of regional differences – both between peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia, and within peninsular Malaysia itself. Our analysis reveals the structural foundations of political competition in democratizing countries and contribute to the emerging literature on authoritarian legacies in such contexts.

The ethnic structure of Soviet Azerbaijan (based on the materials of agricultural census of 1921)

The ethnic structure of Soviet Azerbaijan (based on the materials of agricultural census of 1921)

Contextual factors, transnationalism attitudes, and support for GAL-TAN parties within European metropolises: Insights from London

European democracies are moulded by a ‘transnational cleavage’ between green-alternative-libertarian and traditionalist-authoritarian-nationalist parties and attitudes. The territorial reverberations of this new cleavage are still scarcely analysed. Therefore, this article aims to explore how the transnational cleavage relates to political opinions and choices at the local level, by uncovering connections between such cleavage and the characteristics of metropolitan places. What are the implications of living in different metropolitan contexts on citizens’ positions on the transnational cleavage? I answer this question by investigating how metropolitan contextual factors shape transnationalism attitudes and support for green-alternative-libertarian and traditionalist-authoritarian-nationalist parties within London. Findings highlight that transnationalism attitudes and support for green-alternative-libertarian/traditionalist-authoritarian-nationalist parties are statistically significantly related to contextual factors; among the latter, the boroughs’ housing conditions and ethnic structures are the best predictors of transnationalism attitudes and party choices; residents of disadvantaged metropolitan contexts exhibit lower support for transnationalism and green-alternative-libertarian parties.

Social Inequality in High Tech: How Gender, Race, and Ethnicity Structure the World's Most Powerful Industry

The high-tech industry is the world's most powerful and profitable industry, and it is almost entirely dominated by white, Asian American, and Asian men. This article reviews research on social inequality in the high-tech industry, focusing on gender and race/ethnicity. It begins with a discussion of alternative ways of defining the sector and an overview of its history and employment demographics. Next is an analysis of gendered and racialized pathways into high-paying jobs in the industry, followed by a review of research on workplace organization that emphasizes how sexism and racism are embedded inside the firm and beyond it, through the design of high-tech products and services. Finally, gender and racial disparities in attrition rates are discussed. The conclusion calls for future research on social inequality and the funding structure of the industry, age discrimination inside tech, effective diversity policies, and labor movement activism throughout the high-tech industry.

On the Possibilities and Constraints of Studying the Ethnic Makeup of the Population Using Census Data from the Principality and Kingdom of Serbia: the Case of Eastern Serbia

Since the first half of the nineteenth century, various census data have been collected regarding the ethnic characteristics of the Serbian population, although the data are incomplete and collected irregularly. The ten censuses conducted in the Principality of Serbia between 1833 and 1874 have immense archival value, but their usefulness for ethno-demographic studies is limited. Similarly, while the statistics collected in the censuses of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1874 to 1910 are somewhat more reliable than the previous ones, they suffer from the absence of a direct question on ethnicity.
 To determine the ethnic structure of the population during this time period, a researcher had to rely on an indirect approach through the identification of ethnic groups based on their linguistic affiliation. However, it is important to note that this method only provides an approximate estimation of ethnic composition. Despite this limitation, available census data can still provide valuable insights into the ethnic composition of the population of the Principality and Kingdom of Serbia, with the number and share of the Vlach population as the most numerous ethnic minority taking centre stage. This means that any data analyses must begin with the understanding that the indicators can only be presented for the Romanian-speaking population.
 If we accept the indirect approach to determining population ethnicity, we can deduce from the data that the number of Vlachs in Eastern Serbia increased up to 1895, and their percentage share increased up to 1884. It is noteworthy that the dynamics of the number of Vlachs until 1895 were relatively stable, implying that the increase was practically linear and consistent with the growth tendency of Serbia’s overall population at the time.
 Within the framework of demographic analysis, data on declared Vlachs in almost all censuses since the post-war census cannot be used to derive explainable demographic indicators. Therefore, it is reasonable to suspect that such data would also be of limited use in other academic fields, particularly in law, politics, and public life in general. This highlights the importance of paying closer attention to earlier ethno-statistic records, especially the first statistical aberration reported in the last decade of the nineteenth century.

ПОЛИЭТНИКАЛЫҚ ЖӘНЕ ПОЛИКОНФЕССИОНАЛДЫ ҚОҒАМ ҚАЛЫПТАСТЫРУДЫҢ ҚАЗАҚСТАНДЫҚ ҮЛГІСІ: СИПАТТАМАЛЫҚ ТАЛДАУ

Abstract. Interethnic relations in the multinational Kazakh country have become a decisive factor in sustainable and democratic development, an objective prerequisite for national security and the basic basis of the state's foreign policy activities. Our country is the most steadily developing State in the region. Kazakhstan is a reliable and authoritative partner state for countries with friendly intentions. The main values of the State are ensuring freedom and equal rights of people regardless of their ethnic origin and religious beliefs. The creation of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan indicates that the national policy has actually reached the institutional level. The Assembly of People of Kazakhstan as a social institution forms effective mechanisms for the harmonization of interethnic relations and lays a new qualitatively new foundation. The essence of this innovation was to establish mutual partnerships between State policy and public associations in strengthening interethnic and interreligious harmony. This is a unique phenomenon in the history of modern civilization. Thus, the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan is a synthesis of state policy and public organizations in strengthening social harmony and tolerance of civil society. The main milestones of the 20-year period of the formation and development of the APK as a socio-political institution regulating the sphere of interethnic relations, the study of the main value of national unity – tolerance of the people of Kazakhstan - is a very topical issue and determines the relevance of the work. There remain studies, conclusions and scientific opinions of foreign and domestic historians, political scientists devoted to ethnopolitical processes. The article examines historical, political events and interethnic relations from the point of view of objective reality and differentiates in accordance with the requirements of country interests. The research work uses the principles of system-structural theory, accurate analysis, methods of generalization, comparison, systematization, logical, statistical analysis from historical data and documents. In addition, the article examines historical, political events and interethnic relations from the point of view of objective reality and differentiates in accordance with the requirements of country interests. Based on the analysis of the experience of the twenty-year history of the development of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, the Institute of Social Harmony and National Policy was studied as a socio-political institute for the coordination of interethnic relations, the main core of which is the ethnopolitics of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Keywords: ethnos; multinational; demographic situation; ethnic structure; interethnic; interreligious denomination; migration; social harmony.

ETHNIC ASPECTS OF RURAL MIGRATION IN THE FEDOROVSKY DISTRICT OF THE REPUBLIC OF BASHKORTOSTAN

The article examines the ethnic aspects of population migration in rural Bashkiria. The study area, i. e. Fedorovsky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan, is distinguished by a high ethno-cultural diversity of the population with six large ethnic groups living there, namely Tatars, Russians, Bashkirs, Chuvashes, Mordvins and Ukrainians. The methods of research are the analysis of municipal statistics and household books of rural settlements, the study of “genealogical trees”, the questioning of people and the autobiographical interviews. Different data sources were used to analyze the dynamics of rural migration at the level of rural settlements of the Fedorovsky district in the pre-revolutionary, Soviet and post-Soviet periods. It was found that the migration behavior of population depends on the ethnic structure of rural settlements and their geographical location. The ethnic groups represented in the Fedorovsky district are at different stages of U. Zelinsky migration model, which is reflected in the current migration situation in rural settlements. Collected statistical data allowed selective presentation of the post-Soviet structure of the intraregional geography of rural migration of the population of some settlements in the context of the cities close to the Fedorovsky district, i. e. Ufa, Sterlitamak, Salavat, Ishimbai and Meleuz. The final part of the article interprets the results of questioning to describe the mechanism of making a decision on educational migration for residents of three rural settlements with different ethnic structure of population, i. e. Mordovian Kuzminovka, Tatar Deniskino and Chuvash Kiryushino.

ON THE ORIGIN OF NOVGOROD. 862–1136 – PRINCELY TOWN OF RURIKIDS

Archaeological discoveries of recent decades have formed the basis for the development of a new concept of Novgorod origin. This study is the first to consider the problem through the prism of contacts between the Slovenes and Scandinavians and to associate it with the patrimonial land ownership of the Rurikids. In 862, this Varangian clan was summoned under an agreement to reign in the union of tribes and received a land area (volost) from the Ilmen Slovenes in the upper reaches of the Volkhov River. This is evidenced with12 toponyms of the 10th–12th centuries AD on the territory of Novgorod and its vicinity. The core of the volost is a river island between the Volkhov and Volkhovets rivers with adjacent lands. On this land of the Rurikids, the princely fortresses found by archaeologists were erected at different times (862, 940s, and 1044). All of them were named identically – Novgorod, as well as the volost itself. Novgorod with its vicinities within the boundaries of the ancient volost was ruled by the prince as a princely town. This was due to the fact that the inclusion of the Scandinavian Rurik’s clan in the tribal structure of the tribal union resulted in recognition of the clan by the Slovenes as the dominant and ruling one. Led by the ruling prince Rurik, Novgorodians began to consider themselves as originating from the Varangian family. In case of the Ilmen Slovenes this tribal identity manifested itself most clearly in high burial mounds which became very common. At the same time, the ethnic structure of the early city-state, formed in 862, which was called the Novgorod volost according to chroniclers, turned out to be multiple, claiming the Slavic-Finno-Scandinavian unity. The Varangians were not seen as an alien element in the Slovenian environment. Therefore, Scandinavian finds are common in the lower layers of Novgorod estates of the 10th–11th centuries AD. They testify to the free residence of the Varangians in the Volkhov region. The same is true for Pskov, where Scandinavian burials were found. The Rurikid volost ceased to exist as a single whole in 1132/1136 with the expulsion of the prince. Expanding urban communities (in terms of streets and town districts) began to claim its lands and shrink its territory. But even at a later time, certain fragmented areas of the Novgorod vicinity still belonged to the prince.

Migration Processes in the Kharkiv Region in the Conditions of Russian Aggression and Their Impact on the Demographic Situation

The study of migration processes, caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, is a rather relevant scientific problem. The main territorial directions of migration processes in Kharkiv region and their impact on the demographic situation in the oblast are defined in the article. Attention is focused on the essence of the terms war fugitives – forced migrants (internally displaced persons) in Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees abroad. At the end of February 2022 yet, the offensive of the Russian invaders on Kharkiv has been stopped thanks to the heroic resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Territorial Defense troops. Therefore, Kharkiv has been included in the list of the first cities of Ukraine to receive the title of Hero City (March 21, 2022). Temporal differences in migration flows are determined and the peculiarities of the territorial placement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Kharkiv region and other oblasts of Ukraine are defined on the base of the analysis of statistical data provided by the Kharkiv Regional Military-Civil Administration. The scale of these forced migrations is described, primarily in the city of Kharkiv. Its population has been decreased from 1,400,000 people on the eve of the Russian invasion to 300,000 people in April, 2022. According to the estimations of the Kharkiv city authorities, 600,000 people have been evacuated from Kharkiv by railway alone in the spring of 2022. It has been impossible to evacuate from the northern and eastern areas of Kharkiv region in the first months of the war. A significant part of the region territory (territories of 5 out of 7 districts) is under occupation. Attention is focused on the wave of return (re-evacuation) of the population to Kharkiv, which has started in May, 2022 after the liberation of the city’s nearest surroundings from the Russian occupiers and lasted until the spring of 2023, when the population of Kharkiv reaches 1.1 million people. Almost the whole territory of the Kharkiv region has been liberated in September-October, 2022. The ethnic structure of the population of Kharkiv region at the early 21st century is also revealed. It is indicated that a significant part of the forced migrants who have adapted to the new areas will remain there. This applies not only to Ukrainian migrants abroad, but also to Kharkiv residents who live currently in the other regions of Ukraine, especially among those who have lost their homes and jobs in the Kharkiv region. This will objectively negatively affect the already difficult demographic situation in Kharkiv region in the near future.

ХХ ғасырдың ІІ жартысындағы Шығыс Қазақстан облысының этникалық құрамының динамикасы

The article analyzes the dynamics of changes in the ethnic composition of the East Kazakhstan region. The study used statistical data of current statistics and the results of the 1959 and 1989 population censuses. A detailed description is given of the two dominant nationalities of the region: Kazakh and Russian nationalities (share, urban and rural population, proportion of men and women). In the middle of the 20th century, Russian nationality prevailed, then by the end of the 20th century, the number of Russian nationality decreased and the number of Kazakh nationality increased. Migration had a strong influence on the ethnic structure of the population of the region, since the mass migration of Russians, Germans, the arrival of the Kazakhs led to the formation of a new proportion, so the Kazakh population began to return to the first place, and the Russians took second place. The relevance of the article lies in the study of the influence of the dynamics of ethnic composition on the demographic situation of the region in the 1950s-1980s. The foundations of demographic processes in modern Kazakhstan were formed in this thirtieth anniversary. Summing up the study of the settlement of the population of East Kazakhstan based on the censuses of 1959, 1970, 1979 and 1989, the most pronounced main positive and negative demographic processes had a great impact on the national composition of the region. And this, in turn, is a vivid manifestation of the demographic development of the East Kazakhstan region

Етнічний склад юдейської прозелітської громади в Хозарському каганатi

Етнічний склад юдейської прозелітської громади в Хозарському каганатi

Contesting the mainstream transwoman figurations: The question of caste and precarity in Udalaazham

ABSTRACT Udalaazham (Body Deep), the 2018 Malayalam film directed by Unnikrishnan Avala, intrigues into the precarious dimensions of gender liminality in unprecedented ways by being the first film to discuss the life of a gender-liminal belonging to a tribal (Paniya) community in Kerala. The paper engages in a close reading and analysis of the film-text Udalaazham by placing it in juxtaposition to figurations of transgender subjectivities in contemporary Malayalam films, with an aim to contest the acclaimed progressive disposition of these mainstream representations. It employs the framework of intersectionality to focus on the protagonist Gulikan’s lived experiences enmeshed within the structures of tribal caste, ethnicity and gender characterized by multiple interlocking dimensions of precarity. His body, identity and desires are open to threat, violence, mutilations and perpetual questioning due to lack of socio-cultural capital and support network. The relevance of this film is in opening up the discussions on caste and liminal gender identity and thereby urging the dire need to re-write the formula of identity politics in the region and its popular culture. Reading Udalaazham in this context provides a more liberating yet disturbing space to discuss the regressive operations of identity categories and their limitations in conceptualizing regional queer identities in India.