Collective Strategies and Windfall Catches: Fisher Responses to Tsunami Relief Efforts in South India

Article Sidebar

PDF
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5130/tfc.v3i2.923

Main Article Content

Maarten Bavinck

Abstract

To the surprise of both governments and NGOs, village-level caste organisations – or panchayats - played a significant role in the post-tsunami relief effort to fisher-men in Tamil Nadu, India. This paper discusses the pro-active role of caste pancha-yats in relief from the perspective of social resilience, a factor that is frequently ar-gued to be of importance for disaster management. It presents panchayat action as an expression of collective agency that has a long tradition in the fishing villages of the region. Finally, comparing the reactions of caste panchayats in the post-tsunami situation with their performance in other instances of collective need, it considers their future role in fields such as fisheries management.

Article Details

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2008): Cultural Currents of the Indian Ocean

Section

Articles
Authors submitting a paper to UTSePress publications agree to assign a limited license to UTSePress if and when the manuscript is accepted for publication. This license allows UTSePress to publish a manuscript in a given issue. Copyright is retained by the authors who assert their moral rights. Authors control translation and reproduction rights to their works published by UTSePress. Downloads of specific portions of the Transforming Cultures eJournal are permitted for personal use only, not for commercial use or resale. Requests for permission to reprint or use any materials should be directed to the Author.

References

Adger, WN, Hughes, TP, Folke, C., Carpenter, SR & Rockström, J. (2005) 'Socialecological resilience to coastal disasters', Science, 309: 1036-39. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1112122

Bavinck, M. (2001a) Marine resource management – conflict and regulation in the fisheries of the Coromandel Coast, New Delhi: Sage.

Bavinck, M. (2001b) 'Caste panchayats and the regulation of fisheries along Tamil Nadu's Coromandel Coast', Economic and Political Weekly, 36 (13): 1088-94.

Bavinck, M. (2003) 'The spatially splintered state: myths and realities in the regulation of marine fisheries in Tamil Nadu, India', Development and Change, 34 (4) 633-57. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00322

Bavinck, M. (2005) 'Understanding fisheries conflicts in the South – a legal pluralist perspective', Society and Natural Resources, 18 (9): 805-820. https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920500205491

Bavinck, M. (2006) 'Don't be hasty and impetuous. Notes on women in fisheries', Samudra 43: 3-5.

Bavinck, M. & K. Karunanaran (2006) Legal pluralism in the marine fisheries of Ramnad District, Tamil Nadu, India. IDPAD Working Paper No. 2: 84, available online,

Bharathi, BS (1999) Coromandel fishermen – ethnography of Pattanavar sub-caste, Pondicherry: Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture.

Fernando, U. & Hilhorst, T. (2006) 'Everyday practices of humanitarian aid: tsunami response in Sri Lanka', Development in Practice 16 (3&4): 292-302. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614520600694844

Karunaharan, K. (2006) A study on the role and performance of community panchayat in marine fish production and marketing along the Coromandel Coast, Tamil Nadu, Unpubl. PhD thesis, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India.

Lobe, K. & Berkes, F. (2004) 'The padu system of community-based fisheries management: change and local institutional innlovation in south India', Marine Policy 28 (3): 271-281. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0308-597X(03)00087-3

Department of Fisheries (2000) Tamilnadu marine fisherfolk census: year 2000, Chennai: Government of Tamil Nadu.

Gomathy, NB (2006) 'The role of traditional panchayats in coastal fishing communities in Tamil Nadu, with special reference to their role in mediating tsunami relief and rehabilitation. In: Proceedings regional workshop on post-tsunami rehabilitation of fishing communities and fisheries-based livelihoods, 18-19 January 2006, Chennai, India, pp211-244. Chennai: ICSF.

Long, N. (2001) Development sociology: actor perspectives, London and New York: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203398531

Mandelbaum, DG (1970) Society in India, 2 volumes. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Rao, MG & Singh, N. (2005) 'India's federal institutions and economic reform', in Kapur, D. and P.B. Mehta, Public Institutions in India, performance and design, pp 351-405, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Salagrama, V. (2005) 'Traditional community-based management systems (TCBMS) in two fishing villages in East Godaveri District, Andhra Pradesh, India' in Cunningham, S. and T. Bostock (eds), Successful fisheries management: issues, case studies and perspectives, Delft: Eburon Academic Publishers.

Salagrama, V. (2006) 'Post-tsunami rehabilitation of fishing communities and fisheries-based livelihoods in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, India', in International Collective in Support of Fish Workers. Proceedings regional workshop on posttsunami rehabilitation of fishing communities and fisheries-based livelihoods. 18-19 January 2006, Chennai, India, pp 159-210, Chennai: ICSF.

Thaddeus, S. (2005) 'Tsunami rehabilitation: good intentions alone won't help', Samudra 42: 43-6.

United Nations Development Programme (2005) Tsunami one year after. A joint UN report, India. <http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/Tsunami/UN%20TsunamiFinal.pdf#search=%22joint%20UN%20Mission%20tsunami%20one%20year%20after%22> (accessed 26-9-2006).