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Despite the accepted usage of 'marginality' as a subcategory of subalternity, seldom has the meaning of marginality as a concept been expounded. This paper sets out to address this lack by conceiving of 'marginality' as a condition, by focusing on the lived experiences of Adivasis in Kerala through the discourses constructed by a contemporary social movement, the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha (AGMS). Discourse analysis is the methodological frame that I have used in this paper to analyse the descriptions produced by the AGMS and the state of Kerala, and this is broadly situated within the post-colonial political-sociological approach. Premised on this, I argue that while marginality is an essential concept for looking at contemporary Adivasi movements in India, it is productive to interrogate and explore expanding the varied meanings attached to this concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Communist Party of India (CPI) adopted a revolutionary line in 1948, but agrarian insurrection was efficiently suppressed by the newly independent Indian state. The CPI moved towards an engagement with parliamentary communism, and in 1957, Kerala became the first state in the world to elect a communist government to power. However, the idea of transformative, revolutionary violence stayed alive and became the premise for brutal internecine warfare between the Left and its opponents in the northern part of Kerala. This paper argues,paceBenjamin, that this violence must be seen as instituting another law than that of the state, positing the ideal of justice over the mere rhythms of parliamentary representation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]