Author:

Dr. Pratheesh. P
Assistant Professor,
Department of History,
St. Michael’s College
Cherthala, Kerala,India
ORCID Id: https: 0000-0003-3976-5978
Email: drpratheeshraghav@gmail.com

Abstract:: Kerala’s rural economy has historically been shaped by coconut fibre–based coir production, an industry that acquired an organised industrial form under European commercial intervention during the colonial period. The establishment of India’s first coir factory in Alappuzha in 1859 and the formation of the Travancore Labour Association in 1922 marked key moments in the evolution of production and labour organisation. Despite recent improvements in output and export performance, the coir sector has experienced a sustained decline in employment, revealing a structural contradiction that remains insufficiently explained. This study examines the historical and political-economic roots of this paradox by foregrounding labour politics as a central explanatory factor. Employing a historical–analytical framework, the research analyses working conditions, wage structures, welfare regimes, and patterns of labour mobilisation under both Congress- and Communist-led governments in Kerala. The study draws on archival sources, secondary scholarship, policy documents, and fourth-estate materials, and applies binary component analysis to identify latent correlations between union activity, state policy interventions, and industrial performance. The findings demonstrate that recurrent labour disputes and union-led agitations significantly weakened productivity, employment stability, and long-term sustainability. Under Communist regimes, rigid trade union practices constrained labour’s adaptive capacity to technological change, while under Congress governments the industry became a site of political contestation marked by disruptive protests during phases of attempted modernization. These dynamics contributed to the displacement of nearly four lakh traditional workers and the relocation of production to neighbouring states. By moving beyond dominant explanations centred on modernization or cost–profit dynamics, this article offers a critical reassessment of Kerala’s coir industry by placing labour politics at the core of its historical decline and contemporary challenges.

Key Words:: Coir Industry, Industrial Relations, Labour Politics, Trade Unions, Labour Movements etc.