22.0 Introduction
The state of Kerala is experiencing a speedy process of transforming rules and procedures that influence human interactions across cultures despite the differences in caste, political affiliations, and religious ideologies.
Regulations of social behaviours happened through the institutionalisation of a set of practices and rules consolidated with ideas and new orientations. In that sense, institutionalisation is totally a human activity that connects, familiarises, installs, and make changes in the socio-cultural and political spheres. It is understood that institutionalised behaviours once existed as rules and regulations in all societies and became stabilised over time and space. German sociologist Max Weber (1963) clearly differentiated the goal oriented and idea-consolidating rule formations with his understanding on the process of institutionalisation. For example, starting from the simple societies like the food gatherers and hunters, the division of labour and decentralisation of power are institutionalised both as institutional frame work to organise the societal procedures and also to function as a code of conduct to regulate and safeguard individual interests. Here, individuals and groups are an indivisible part of the system because of the collective efforts in making an unpredictable subsistence. However, this may vary between societies with different subsistence activities because of the changes in institutional structure and function.It is a fact that rules and regulations originate out of necessities and indispensable requirements materialised in societies and cultures. The rules developed for a mandatory requirement or purpose sustain for a certain period of time and are later established into institutionalised behaviour. The reason for these purposes includes uncertainty in availing resources, the problems connected with division of labour and distribution of power, differences in perspectives towards a common goal, and ideological disparities in attaining fundamental necessities.
Sometimes, finding solutions to some of these situations leads to social crises. Moore (1960) suggests that when there is struggle in finding a solution to certain basic problems, the society or social system is subject to change. So, it is clear that change and adaptation are the basic and fundamental aspects that always substantiate the process of institutionalisation. This process is continuously in search of and concerned with the solution for existing problems in a social system in order to accommodate its membersDOI: 10.4324/9781003516415-29
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with sufficient survival capabilities. The constant interaction between the newly added or created trait and the people in that system pave the way for institutionalising that new trait. It is a process of compromises and sharing between a system and its members and also the functional requirement of the cultural trait which decides its role in the institutional structure or cultural patterns. These traits sustain and survive because they are established, or are internalised; and they became norms of action because of its connection and ability of sharing with other factors.
It is established that increase in population irrespective of the availability of resources naturally creates internal struggles and issues in coordinating social activities including resource management (Johnson 1982 and Bandy 2004). Socio-economic and political hierarchies develop as part of adaptations to the newly created strata which later institutionalise as integrative institutions. However, it is significant to note the differences and similarities in the process of institutionalisation among groups of people sharing the same environment, both social and biological. Tribal communities are the best examples of such societies where the process of institutionalisation varies from one group to the other. This chapter focuses on the issues of institutionalisation among the Kurichiyan, one of the matrilineal tribal communities in Kerala. The primary data discussed in the chapter was collected from key informants belong to Kurichiyan community in the Wayanad district of Kerala. People from both the older and younger generation were interviewed to collect information across generations. Relevant secondary sources were also consulted to supplement primary sources keeping in view the central objective of the chapter.
22.1