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Built environment of community enterprise and culture against odds-the case of Kochi on the west coast of India

Vidya Rao (Manipal School of Architecture and Planning, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India)
Rama Devi Nandineni (Manipal School of Architecture and Planning, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India)
Shaji Kananchira Panicker (School of Design and Architecture, Manipal Academy of Higher Education – Dubai Campus, International Academic City, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy

ISSN: 1750-6204

Article publication date: 3 June 2024

Issue publication date: 28 October 2024

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to read ritual performances, built forms and cultural undertones of traumatic migration in the settlements of people at the periphery of mainstream history at Mattancherry in Kochi, India. Interactions between their culture, faith, location, ethnicity and community enterprise are explored. This study is essential in the context of negative social perceptions of internal migration and migrants.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is ethnography and includes interdisciplinary fieldwork of transect walks, participant observations, unstructured interviews and architectural documentation. Secondary references were community publications and scholarly journals.

Findings

Constant resilient rebuilding was possible through shared identity and community enterprise. Community temples, monastic institutions, volunteer groups and emerging high-net-worth individuals contributed to nurturing this identity. The temple rituals encouraged an egalitarian outlook. Throughout the settlement’s existence, the centrality of the temple and its religious activities remained constant. Community cohesion and endogamous practices create a cultural island distinct from the general population. Community enterprise also meant contribution to prosperity as productive citizens in the region and beyond.

Originality/value

Religion and shared history-based ethnic community enterprise for survival and prosperity postmigration are observed in this settlement. The conducive entrepreneurial atmosphere is set in its historical, cultural and religious context. This study can, therefore, provide insights for policymakers and academia about the interactions between culture, faith and history during the entrepreneurial process. The cultural context is explored as a backdrop of community enterprise posttraumatic migration, informing societal perceptions about migration and migrants.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Funding: This research is not funded.

Disclosure statement: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Citation

Rao, V., Nandineni, R.D. and Panicker, S.K. (2024), "Built environment of community enterprise and culture against odds-the case of Kochi on the west coast of India", Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 945-963. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEC-02-2023-0020

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

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