This paper looks at the changing caste relations from an ecological perspective, focusing on Thathamangalam in Palakkad district, Kerala. Paddy cultivation in this region historically played a major role in shaping gender, caste, and community relations, as well as the human-nature relationship, as in other areas of Kerala. The institution of caste defined the agrarian and labour relationships in Thathamangalam, as in other agrarian societies. However, with a decline in paddy cultivation, agrarian structure has undergone significant transformation over the years. The agrarian structure, or its various dimensions since the time of independence, such as land reforms and the Green Revolution, brought about subsequent changes. Traditional agricultural labour relations have also changed with recent developments. This study tries to indicate how ecological factors interdigitate with social ones and aims to examine to what extent an ecological analysis is possible in dealing with the complex paddy relations of production in rice farming. Further, it also analyses the different social groups in conjunction with social relations around the use of natural resources in paddy cultivation.
Mathews et al. (2026) studied this question.