SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, TECHNOLOGY AND DEVF.I.OPMENT: A QUERY AND AN INSTRUCTIVE CASE FROM THE THIRD WORLD

Govindan Parayil

Govindan Parayil is Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Illinois.

I. INTRODUCTION

There seems to be a consensus among development theorists that inducing technological change by intrdducing modern technology is the key to bringing about economic and social changes in the Third World in order to improve the standard of living of millions ofpeople. However, few development theories and programs address the strategy of technology choice in development, or the nature and form of the most appropriate technologies suitable for the Third World; above all, they tend to ignore equity and environmental issues while planning and implementing development programs and projects. Invariably, without resolution of these issues, development theories and concomitant projects are beingformulated by donor agencies and their attendant counterparts in the Third World. Often, little input is sought from the orch~nar~ people for whom the purported development projects are targeted," and their feelings and desires regarding development programs and projects are not taken into account. However, this iituation seems to be changing in parts of the Third World where rass-roots-oriented social movements are organizing themselves to ght economically inequitable and environmentally harmful

technological development projects. Formally or informally organized social movements are confronting authorities to stop environmentally questionable development projects in India, Brazil, Sri La.nka, Malaysia, and Botswana, among many Third World countries.

Equitable development strategies call for the active participation of the public in economic development programs and projects. The role o~f non-governmental organizations (NGOs)and social movements (SMs) in development activities in this regard has been well recognized. Dennis Goulet argues that the "political

Dialectical Anthropology 17: 339-352, 1992. 9 1992 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.

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redemocratization" now taking place in Asia and Latin America is challenging the tomdown development strategies hitherto followed there. 1 Transcending the dichotomy between subjects and objects in the practice of development has been advocated as an important precondition for equitable development. Michael Edwards complains that much of development research is wasted on "understanding" the problems of underdevelopment, 2 leaving few resources for "action" to alleviate the proSlem being stuctied. Edwards rightly points out, like many other analysts, that equitable development requires the active part{cipation of local organizations indigenous to the Third World.

Social movements are growing rapidly in much of the Third World, assuming important roles in participatory development activities. Marta Fuentes and Gunder Frank present a cogent and insightful characterization of social movements in the South, North, and East. 3 The "Ten Theses" that Fuentes and Frank formulate on social movements state that: (1) social movements are not "new" as is normally portrayed, but are old movements with new features that reflect econom{c and cultural changes; (2) though social movements display variety and changeability, they are mobilized through a sense of morality and (in)justice; (3) social movements are cyclical and related to long political and economic cycles; (4) social movements are mostly middle class in the West, popular/working class in the South, and both in the East; (5) most social movements seek autonomy and not state power (if they seek the latter, they negate themselves as social movements); (6) most social movements are more defensive and temporary than offensive; (7) social movements tend to "delink" from capitalist systems and promote the transition to socialism; (8) social movements do not discourage membership overlap and forming coalitions; (9) social movements create their own scripts, and outside prescriptions are considered inappropriate; and, (10) social mov-ements serve to extend, deepen, andredefine democracy from traditional state, political, andeconomic democracy to civil democracy.

In this paper, I will present the role played by a highly successful grass-roots-oriented social movement in the Indian State of Kerala, the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad or KSSP, in mobilizing the public in technology policy debates. Because of the centrality of science and technology in social and economic development, properly organized and ideologically motivated social movements can play crucial roles in shaping and influencing state policies on technology and development. In this regard, it may be a highly instructive example to illustrate the activities of the KSSP in mobilizing the public to debate issues related to technological change and-economic development in Kerala and in India at large.

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Social movements associated with the progressive and the leftist spectrum of the population, like the KSSP, liave played important roles in the development of Kerala. The KSSP's abili_ty to mobilize the public in crudal technology policy debates offers a balanced case study that other social movements in the Third World can learn from to check the misuse of science and technology by unscrupulous state and private capitalists. Similarly, the KSSP may. be used as an exemplar for other social movements in the Third World to help them fight for the formulation of economically_ and ecologically_ sound tecfinology policies. The main objective of this article is thus to show tkie importance of social movements indigenous to the Third World in shaping sensible technology policies. The voice of ordinary citizens whose lives are touched 13y development programs, either in a positive or in a negative way, has been heard clearly_ in these debates. A secondary aim of this case study is to illustrate the validity of the "Ten Theses."

11. KERALA AND THE KSSP: AN HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Kerala is a small state, a narrow strip of tropical land, some 15,000 square miles in area, situated on the south-western tip of India. Ancient travelers and merchants from Arabia and Europe who came to trade in spices and other exotica of the Malabar coast had extensive contact with Kerala. Also, the ports of Kerala, such as Kozhikode (Calicut), Krangannore, and Kochy (Cochin), played an important role as the nexus, mainly as a trans-shipment point, between the Far-Eastern and the Middle-Eastern civilizati6ns in world systems history. The annual monsoon winds, which would reverse direction at the end of the season, transported sailors from the ports of Arabian countries to the shores of Kerala. Christians, Jews, and Muslims came and settled in Kerala and lived peacefully with the Hindus and the indigenous people.

Kerala has an unusual socio-political history. For most of the 36 years since its formation in 1956 as a separate state of Malay.alam- speaking people, Kerala has been ruled-by democratically elected socialist governments. These socialist governments have been highly successful in implementing progressive land reform laws, comprehensive healthcare and educational programs targeted at the poor citizens of the State. 4 According to R.J. Herring, "Land reforms in Kerala redistributed the income to the tenants dramatically."5 The "land-to-the-tiller" program of the left-front governments of the 1960s and 1970s coupled, with its comprehensive agricultural labor laws, redistr~uted the rent fund," formerly expropriated by the landlords, to the tillers. The Kerala Agricultural Workers Act of 1974 provides permanency for

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attached laborers to the farms, a provident fund and old age pensions, permanent labor conciliatory services at the district level, greatly reduced hours of work (between six and eight hours), scheduled breaks, tea and lunch, and a minimum wage which is the highest in India. 6 However, Herring notes that the growing agriculture labor power and soaring wage-bill are leading to the "enbourgeoisement" of the newly landed peasants. Herring argues that the operation of agriculture in a "re-gulated capitalist" mode constrains the left in holding on to the voter base. The former tenants who have now become relatively prosperous are reluctant, faced with a lowering of commodity prices, to pay high wages These prices are set by the market forces andthe federal government. Often, the success of the leftist governments depends on decisions made in Delhi, which normally are opposed to the "corporatist-distributionist" strategy of the former.

Though the per capita income of Kerala is below the national mean, Kerala has the lowest infant mortality rate, highest life expectancy, highest literacy rate, and the most equitable distribution of income compared with other states in India. Through the leadership o3 the KSSP and other popular organizations, Kerala has achieved universal literacy of nearly 100 percent. The method used for this successful literacy campaign is being emulated for other literacy prog3"ams in the rest of India and even in other parts of the Third Worlcl. The infant mortality rate is comparable to any industrialized Western nation. The high literacy among women, equitable distribution of health services, and the universal rationing of essential commodities at affordable prices are some of the reasons cited for this remarkable achievement. The "Kerala Model" of eliminating extreme deprivation and poverty can be cited as an example of "dev~elopment wl"thout growth. "7

A powerful and catchy slogan, "Science for Social Revolution" is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people to become part of a people s science and technology movement in Kerala. 8 This movement was initiated by the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, which may be loosely transl~ated into English as "Kerala Scientific Literacy Society. The KSSP was establislied in 1962 by a g rout~ of science writers and intellectuals interested in issues relatea to science and technology as an attempt to "popularize science in order to develop a scientific outlook in society and tackle a variety of problems related to the interaction of science and society. "9 In 1988, the KSSP celebrated the 25th year of its founding by claiming that the movement has succeeded in bringing a scientific temperament" to a large section of the population of Kerala.

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The KSSP is a unique social movement. It is probably the only citizen's movement of its kind in India, and perhaps in the whole Third World. The KSSP is a broad-based popular organization which started as a forum for publishing scientific literature in Malayalam, the native language of Kerala, spoken by its 28 million people. Over the years, tl/e movement's focus has widened considerably to include issues such as industrialization and technological development and the right of ordinary people to influence policies, on these, crucial subjects: It has been a people's movement w~th a revolutmnary fervor to influence the course of technological development in an industrially backward region of India. It has placedemphasis on the quality of life and the environment, rather than on the calculus of economics alone. Besides strongly promoting the liberating power of science and technology and their ability to enhance the standard of living of the people, the KSSP strongly defends the right of the people to know and understand the nature of the technological projects aimed at achieving economic development.

At the time of independence in 1947, literature on science and technology in India was published almost exclusively in English. Although India has a federal structure with each state of the union having its own language and cultural heritage, this trend continued for several years. In t-he State of Kerala, a group of writers and journalists interested in science got together in 1958 to form a support organization to publish s~entific literature in Malayalam. Initially their work was confined to translating scientific literature from English to Malayalam. They were particularly influenced by the writings of British scientists and historians like Bernal and Haldane. In 1962, this tiny group of writers joined together with a small number of school teachers, college professors, college students, d.c~ors, and engineers to form the KSSP, with the noble mission of taking science and technology to the people."

_ Creating a sense of "scientific temperament" among the people of Kerala was the major objective of the o~anizers of KSSP. THe E strongly felt that the "popularization of science and the creating of a scientific temperament" among the people could act as a v~tal force against thd"outmoded structures" pre~vailing in a semi-feudal society, in which superstitions from t-he past-reigned supreme among a large section of the population.-It was this sense of "mission" that prompted the KSSP to adopt the slogan "Science for Social Revolution" in 1974. The KSSP is now actively_ involved in various aspects of the study_ and the application of science and technology to such diverse fields as agrl~culture, industry, electric power, transportation, forestry, habitat, healthcare, and education.

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The KSSP action plan delineates an impressive array of programs to be carried out to implement the slogan "Science for Social Revolution. "10 In a nutshell, the KSSP intends to spread science and scientific consciousness among the people, to arm the people and their popular organizations with scientific and techno|og~cal knowledge. The KSSP action plan intends to mobilize the people to resist the misuse of science and technology." Initiating a campaign

to evolve a progressive science and techn61ogypolicy,-and str~vi/lg towards the development of indigenous scientific andtechnological capability are also iiigh on the agenda of the KSSP.

Though the constitution of the KSSP claims that it is a non- political and non-partisan organization, its proclamations and position papers show that ~ts mission is to work toward establishing a socialist society. 11 Ramachandra Guha calls the movement's leaders "ecological Marxists." Many of the early founders of the KSSP were influenced by Haldane and Bernal. The KSSP s leadership recognizes that the development of science and technology does not take place in a vacuum-but within a society. The organizers argue that it is the "duty of the People's Science Movement to come to the defense of the people against the blatant abuses of science and technology and attempt to ameliorate at least some of the negative consequences of technological changes. "13 The organizers endorse the utilization of science and technology by public sector undertakings of the central and state governments under tight regulations to minimize environmental damage and public health problems.

There are, at present, 40,000 active members and working groups in all the towns and villages 14 Also, more than 1,500 science clubs have been formed in schools under the auspices of the KSSP. Every year they conduct classes on different topics related to science, technology and society. The KSSP volunteers conduct the classes in schools and libraries. Some of the topics included in the classes are: Halley's Comet; The Solar System; The Evolution of Matter; Nature, Science and Society; People's Health; Natural Resources of Kerala and the Protection of the Environment; Fuel Conservation Techniques and Appropriate Technology. The KSSP has conducted several thousands of classes so far. Summer science camps and science talent shows involve over 600,000 school children annually. "Science Through Folk Art" and "Science Processions" to sensitize and educate rural people about scientifically and socially important issues are other activities that the KSSP promotes. The 1988 report of the KSSP shows that it has published 372 books and monographs in English and Malayalam on various topics in science and technology. 15 It publishes four widely read pen'odicals, three in Malayalam and one in English. Sastragatbi (The Progress of

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Science) for the general public; Sastrakeralam (Scientific Kerala) for high school students; Eureka for primary school students; and Science for Social Revolution in English.

It appears that the KSSP has been able to inculcate an appreciable level of awareness in the people of Kerala about technological controversies. The government and public respect the views ana suggestions of the KSSP on scientific and technological issues. The KSSP actively encourages industrial development through the "prudent" use of science and technology. They argue that they are neither anti-developmental nor against modern technology. On the contrary, they argue that it is only with the use of appropriate scientific and technological knowledge that a country like India can pull itself out of the extreme poverty and deprivation to which a large number of its people is subject. In fact, one of the earlier positions of the KSSP can be summed up by its slogan, "industrialize or perish." They insist that the benefits of economic growth and development must be equitably distributed among the people. The crucial issue is that before embarking on a project, proper studies must be conducted to find out the "-good" ~ad the ~baa" of such a project. A project may be implemented if the total good to the peo- pie in terms of jobs, income, and ~ublic good must far exceed the bad, such as, ecological problems, to see how this works I investigate some case studies involving technological controversies in which the KSSP actively mobilized the pubffc to block projects that would have caused irreversible ecological damage or to implement projects with improved safety regulations.

m. THREE CASE STUDIES

1. The Silent Valley Project In Kerala, 100 per cent of the electric power is generated by

hydro-electric projects. Since all the forty-one rivers in Kerala originate from the mountains in the Western Ghats, the State has fairly good hydro-power potential. However, because of the erratic monsoons, many of these rivers run nearly dry in the summer season. As demand for electric power soared, planners sought to build more dams and power stations to exploit the abundant water resources of the State, ignorin.g the fact that a bad drought can create havoc on the power situation. One of the major power projects promoted by the ,Kerala State Electricity Board was called the "Silent Valley Project. The plan was to build a hydroelectric project across the river Kunthi meandering through the tropical rain forest called the Silent Valley. 16 The project was given high priority by the State Government, because it was tobecome a

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multi-purpose project that could produce electricity and irrigate a large tract of land. While working on the details of the project, the planners and the State Electrici~ Board did not pay any attention to the much prized fauna and flora of the Silent Valley and its surrounding regions. Protests from ornithologists and environmentalists in India and abroad to protect the rain forest by not "developing" this fragile land was not heeded, until the KSSP entered the fray and mobilized the citizenry to oppose the project.

The campaign that the KSSP devised to stop this technological project is an excellent episode in the histo~ of technology policy. initially it was difficult to convince the public about the purported negative consequences of an important economic development project. There was an acute power shortage in the State, particularly in the Malabar region which was targeted to receive the power and water, and any additional power at the earliest possible date would be always welcomed by the public. Also, the KSSP had to confront a government run by opportunistic politicians who wanted to return to power by showihg the people that they were doing everythinl~ possible to increase tlie availability of power and water. During the entire saga of the Silent Valley project, socialist and non-socialist ~overnments ruled the State, and all the governments wanted the project to be implemented. The ruling Marxists sparred with the ecological Marxists, who otherwise used to be on excellent terms with eac~h other, lz

The KSSP agreed that indeed Kerala did face an acute power shortage. Yet they argued quite successfully that banking on electricity produced from tiydro-electric projects alone was a suicidal policy. Unfortunately, this was proved many times over when the rains did not come in time, or t]ae rains that came were inadequate. They argued that the State should diversify its power production and that a thermal power plant could be built in less time and with less capital than a hydro-electric project. Also, they. argued that the environmental damage from thermal plants could be minimized by efficient pollution-control technology. Since Kerala has excellent ports andrelatively efficient railroads, coal and oil can be easily brought from outside. They used data from cases of existing hydroelectric projects. These studies showed that such projects destroyed the forests in several parts of the State by outright flooding of large catchment areas and the ensuing encroachment of tlie project sites by humans, eventually destroying all the remaining forests.

The KSSP argued that the destruction of forests affects weather patterns, in addition to destroying rare species of flora and fauna in ~he Silent Valley. It is widely believed b))both scientists and native people that forests play a crucial role in rain-making in Kerala. Forests help to trap the dense monsoon clouds on the Western

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Ghat mountains, which otherwise would have slipped past the mountains if they were bare. The KSSP convinced the ~op|e of the State that they were supportive of development and modernization, but that they should at the same time try to preserve as many resources as possible for future generations. The KSSP conducted classes in towns and villages, educating the people about the importance of conservation. The large ana influential print media in the State took up the issue and they jointly were able to mobilize the public to oppose this project and to tell the politicians and bureaucrats to look into alternative programs to generate electricity. Mani credits the KSSP for raising the consciousness of the people of Kerala on issues dealing with ecology and pollution from unregulated industrial projects, lg

The SBent Valley Project has been abandoned by the government and the Silent Valley region has been declared a Biosphere Reserve by the federal and state governments. Alternative energy development projects are being sought by the Electricity Board to compensate ]~or the loss of the Silent Valley Project.

2. Mothi Chemicals Another industrial project that would have laid waste a

community was blocked by the timely actions of the KSSP. Using a golden opportunity to utilize government subsidies to start industries in the industrially backward Malabar region of the State, a ~oup of venture capitalists decided to set up a chemical factory. under the name of Mothi Chemicals to manufacture depolarized manganese dioxide, used for making dry cells. 19

This chemical factor?- was intended to be part of a larlge industrial park set up by me government to attract investors to the northern part of the State, which is a relatively "backward area" in terms of industrial development. The KSSP and the local residents around the industrial park had no objection to the other 30 or so factories in the park, such as several different types of electronics and telecommunications factories. In the surrounding area of the industrial park there are many civilian establishments, including several schools, a hospital for women and children, an Ayurvedic (Indian Medicine) hospital and research center, a sports school and mini-stadium, a rural academy, a snake park, police training centers, and a veterinary center.

After learningabout the new chemical factor's impending arrival, the KSSP-had the owners of the proposed plant explain the production processes and the way in which theyp[anned to dispose off the effluent from the plant. The KSSP learned with dismay that the solid wastes and large quantities of waste water containing sulfuric acid were going to be dumped in several abandoned

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~oUarries in the vicinity of the factory. The experts from the KSSP und out that the scrubbers which the factory intended to install

were going to be inadequate to absorb the large amounts of manganese and carbon dust released by the plant into the air. Also, the plant would release large amounts of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. The experts from the KSSP found out that the sulphuric acid in the effluent dumped into the quarry would seep into the groundwater and pollute nearby wells and streams. Hundreds of thousands of people live in the vicinity of the proposed factory. Their water would be poisoned, and the air polIution would affect the civilian establishments in close proximity to t, he factory.

The KSSP s concern was ridiculed and rejected by the factory management. The public authorities were more inclined to see a factory built than heed the concerns of a group of intellectuals concerned about the environment and the quafity of life of the unwary residents in the vicinity of the industrial park. The KSSP, as a last resort, organized the residents of the area. They told them about the terrible 8amage that the new factory would bring to their environment. The local residents were informed that of the total of 77 new jobs to be created by the factory, they might get only a few. Experts from the KSSP briefed them about the consequences of a similar factory in the southern part of the State. Outraged by these shocking new revelations, the local residents and several cultural and civic organizations in the vicinity of the proposed factory formed an Environmental Protection Action Committee to stop the construction of the factory outright. The KSSP did not completely oppose the construction of the factory. They only wanted firm guarantees from the factory management that they would operate the plant without any environmental damage to the area. But the local residents opposed the building of the factory suspicious of all chemical factorles after the Bhopal disaster.

3. KSSP and Public Health In 1987, 3,000 unpaid volunteers of the KSSP visited 10,000

households in all the 1,001 Panchayats of the State to conduct a health survey which would ascertain the health status of rural residents of the State. 20 Though Kerala has a relatively good public healthcare system with hospitals and primary healthcare facilities available in most rural areas, city residents have an unfair advantage over rural residents in getting better medical care. The survey involved about 50,000 people. The KSSP claims that the survey is only a prelude to the beginning of a People s Health Movement in the State. From the Survey, the KSSP concluded that even though the mortality rate in the State is only 6.9 per thousand, the morbidity rate is quite high. The large morbidity rate is apparently

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related to two factors: on the one hand the incidence of diseases related to poverty, and on the other, diseases linked with affluence and changing life styles. The KSSP found that the incidence of diseases related to smoking and drinkingare high among men. Poor ventilation and energy inefficient cooking methods create health problems among women. The KSSP has designed and distributed an energy-efficient smokeless oven to several thousand households in the State at an extremely low price. They are also distributing low- cost toilets to poor rural households to prevent communicable diseases.

As a result of the Survey, the KSSP asked the government to change its present health care programs to give emphasis to a preventive health care system rather than to a curative system. They demanded that the government minimize the power of multinational drug companies, and the doctors associated with them, to dictate unnecessary drugs for rather simple, preventable, water-borne and other communicable illnesses. They argue that the present medical education should have a strong social science content in it. The KSSP's approach to health care and education is summed up in its definition: Health * - Education + Nutrition + Safe Drinking Water + Environmental Hygiene + Preventive Medicine + Work, instead of: Health . * Illness + Hospital + Doctor +,Medicine. The year 1986 was devoted to conducting classes on People s Health." Thousands of classes were conducted on nutrition, preventive medicine, gastrointestinal diseases, health habits of the people, and first aid

IV. CONCLUSION

I believe that the KSSP's claim that all technological issues should be evaluated and assessed only in the context of their impact on the people are borne out by the case studies. Apart from the Silent Valley and the Mothi Chemicals controversies, the KSSP had a positive role to play in other technological and environmental controversies, SUCh as those over river pollution from untreated chemical effluent being dumped in several rivers of the State by chemical and paper companies, nuclear power plant siting, and drug policy. The KSSP s position paper on industries indicates that Kerala has a high concentration of chemical industries, and urges the government to issue no more new licenses for chemical companies. Instead they urge the government to bringin more engineering and electronics industries into the State. The State government has been generally responsive to such calls by actively promoting electronics-industry in the State. K.K. Subramanian and

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K.J. Joseph demonstrate how a "capital-deficient" State like Kerala can stimulate economic growth and employment opportunities in the electronics sector by taking advantage of the considerably well- educated "human resources" ofthe State? -2

The KSSP is in the thick of a debate about the advisability of the establishment of a nuclear power plant in the State as a lonlg range plan to alleviate the acute power shortage predicted for the year 2000. The consensus seems to be that since Kerala is a densely populated State, a continuum of villages and towns and cities from one end to the other situated on the coastal belt, there is no proper site on which a nuclear power plant can be built. However, given the fact that the power availability should be increased and diversified and also that the statistical probability of a nuclear accident is remote, a strong minority in the KSSP is picking up support for a nuclear power plant among the media and the people. 23

It appears that KSSP's campaign to reach out to the ~ople to make science and technology instruments of change is quite successful. It is not clear how much their efforts are influencing scientists and technologists at large, who are not associated with the KSSP, to help unleash the potential inherent in science and technology to improve the quality of life of the people. Even though there are no quantitative studies to measure KSSP s contributions to the high literacy rate, low infant mortality rate, and similar indicators of social progress in the State, it is safe to assume that the KSSP's campaign of "Science for Social Revolution" has made a positive contribution to these achievements.

Though the KSSP claims to be a non-political voluntary organization, its objective is to raise the consciousness of the peopre in order to harness the benefits of technology to socioeconomic development. The measure of success they liave had in educating and raising the consciousness of the people, who might have otherwise remained ignorant or indifferent to technological issues and controversies, is evident. Given the fact that the KSSP is a totally non-governmental and voluntary organization surviving on its own resources, its success in achieving its set goals are remarkable. It is an encouraging sign that sin~lar people's science and technology (S&T) mover~en'ts ~e springing upin several States in India, following the foot-steps of the KSSP. After the killing of thousands of people by the Union Carbide chemical plant in Bhopal, the need for many more such people's S&T movements for democratic control of technology has ~ecome ever more urgent.

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NOTES

1. Dennis Goulet, "Participation in Development: New Avenues," Worm Development 23 (1988), pp. 165-178.

2. Michael Edwards, "The Irrelevance of Development Theories," Third World Quarterly 11(1989), pp. 116-135.

3. Marta Fuentes and Andre Gunder Frank, "Ten Theses on Social Movements," World Development 17(1989), pp. 179-191.

4. T.J. Nossiter, Marxist State Governments in India (London: Pinter Publishers, 1988).

5. R.J. Herring, "Dilemmas of Agrarian Communism: Peasant Differentiation, Sectoral and Village Politics," Third World Quarterly 11 (1989), pp. 89-115.

6. Ibid., p. 91. 7. Richard Franke and Barbara Chasin, "Development Without Growth:

The Kerala Experiment," Tectmology Review 93 0990), pp. 42-51. 8. See the KSSP journal Science For SocialRevolution 1 (1985), p. 1. 9. Ibid. 10. See, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Peopk's Science: Views andAction Plans

(Trivandrum: Social Scientist Press, 1988). 11. Ibid. 12. Ramachandra Guha, "Ideological Trends in Indian Environmentalism,"

Economic and Poh'tical Weekly 23 (1988), pp. 2578-2581. 13. KSSP, Science for Social Revolution, p. 2. 14. Information provided by the General Secretary of the KSSP during my

interview. 15. Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad, Annual Report: 1988 (Released on the

occasion of the 25th anniversary of the founding of the KSSP in 1988). 16. Silent Valley is one of the few remaining rain forests in Kerala untouched

by humans. Though it is a small forest, it acts as the last niche for the flora and fauna which have remained unharmed because of its impenetrability. The KSSP and the World Wildlife Fund-India claim that human penetration of the forest would eventually destroy it, wiping out innumerable species of rare animals and plants from the face of the earth. The eerie silence that pervades the forest, probably due to the absence of cicadas, got its name "Silent Valley." However, the local Aadivasis or aborigines tell that that name is rooted in mythology, and based on the life story of a tribal princess. See, for details, Darryl D'Monte, Teraples or Tombs? lndustry versus Environment: Three Controversies (New Delhi: Centre for Science and Environment, 1985).

17. D'Monte, Temples or Tombs? 18. V.R. Mani, "Popularising Science, Fighting Pollution," The Times oflndia

(March 1, 1989), p. 8. 19. See the KSSP monograph, Mothi Chm~icals: Will It Make Magatuparamlm A

W~teland? (1985).

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20. A Pancbayat is a rural administrative unit with an elected council. For details on the survey, see K.P. Kannan and K.R. Thankappan, "A People's Survey on People's Health," Science for Social Revolution, pp. 12-14.

21. See, People's Science, pp. 107-110. 22. K.K. Subramanian and K.J. Joseph, "Electronics in Kerala's

Industrialisation," Economic and Political Weekly 23 (1988), pp. 1233-1240. 23. Mani, "Popularising Science, Fighting Pollution."