TRACING THE MATERIALIZATION OF THE KERALA JOINT HINDU FAMILY SYSTEM (ABOLITION) ACT, THROUGH ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Abstract

A description of the Hindu family in India would be incomplete without accounts of its vast jointness. In fact, this was such a characteristic feature, from time immemorial, that it induced the mutation of the adjective into a tangible concept – the Hindu Joint Family (hereafter the HJF). Interestingly, empirical evidence has shown that novel urban settings did not induce a complete breakdown of the joint family system, implying that change and continuity were not mutually exclusive for this Hindu institution. 

However, adapting to the changing moors of society was not de rigueur for joint families all across the nation. In 1975, a state tucked into the Southern corner of India abolished the HJF, decimating an entire kinship system in the process. This paper seeks to examine the events that led to the decline of the HJF in Kerala, culminating in the Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act of 1975 (hereafter the Kerala Act or the 1975 Act). This analysis will be utilized to understand why this was an isolated incident in the state. The argument pursued is that this precocious legislation was inevitable for the HJF in Kerala, stemming from the uniqueness of the family systems and societal changes within the state; hence, it is comprehendible why a similar fate did not befall HJFs outside the state.