Technical Assistance and Social Conflict: A Case Study from the Indo-Norwegian Fishing Project in Kerala, South India – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)

The document analyzes the Indo-Norwegian Fishing Project in Kerala, South India, to demonstrate that technical assistance can cause social conflict through modest interventions. It identifies five specific factional conflicts involving fish merchants, different classes of fishermen, sales cooperatives, communal tensions between the Nair and Latin Catholic groups, and the Arayas' ambivalence toward new methods. Additionally, it argues that the principle of ideological neutrality in development assistance can sometimes hinder the effective achievement of project goals.

• Technical assistance does not automatically reduce social conflict; instead, even modest interventions can initiate complex processes that cause conflict as often as they prevent it.
• The project identifies five specific areas of social conflict resulting from or present during the intervention: disputes between fish merchants and fishermen, tensions between mechanized boat owners and canoe fishermen, conflicts between merchants and the project's sales cooperative, communal tensions between the Nair and Latin Catholic groups, and the Arayas' ambivalence toward new fishing techniques.
• The requirement for assistance to developing countries to remain ideologically neutral can, in some instances, act as a barrier to successfully reaching project objectives.

APA

Peace Research Institute Oslo (1964). Technical Assistance and Social Conflict: A Case Study from the Indo-Norwegian Fishing Project in Kerala, South India – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). https://www.prio.org/publications/2879

Chicago

Peace Research Institute Oslo. Technical Assistance and Social Conflict: A Case Study from the Indo-Norwegian Fishing Project in Kerala, South India – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO). 1964. https://www.prio.org/publications/2879.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Peace Research Institute Oslo |title=Technical Assistance and Social Conflict: A Case Study from the Indo-Norwegian Fishing Project in Kerala, South India – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) |date=1 January 1964 |url=https://www.prio.org/publications/2879 |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{peaceresearchinstituteoslo1964technical, author = {{Peace Research Institute Oslo}}, title = {{Technical Assistance and Social Conflict: A Case Study from the Indo-Norwegian Fishing Project in Kerala, South India – Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO)}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, year = {1964}, month = jan, url = {https://www.prio.org/publications/2879}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }