https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.039
Labour, Childhood, and Eco-Precarity in Mari Selvaraj’s Vaazhai
SWATHI SATHEESH
Part-Time PhD Scholar
Department of English
Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur
Affiliated to the University of Calicut
DR. CHITHRA P S
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur
Affiliated to the University of Calicut
Abstract: This paper examines Mari Selvaraj’s Vaazhai (2024) through the theoretical framework eco-precarity discussed by Pramod K. Nayar in the book Eco-precarity: Vulnerable Lives in Literature and Culture. In order to analyse the interconnected relationship between labour, caste, environment, and vulnerable existence. Set within the space of plantation labour, the film depicts the harsh realities faced by marginalized communities whose lives are shaped by economic insecurity, bodily exhaustion, and social inequality. Through the experiences of the child Sivanaindhan and other plantation workers, the film explores how childhood, education, and emotional life become deeply affected by exploitative labour systems. Focusing upon Pramod K. Nayar’s concept of eco-precarity and Rob Nixon’s idea of slow violence, this paper argues that Vaazhai represents precarity not merely as environmental hardship, but as a broader condition produced through caste-based marginalization, labour exploitation, and unequal power structures. The paper further introspects how hunger, bodily suffering, and the lorry tragedy expose the devastating consequences of structural neglect and precarious survival. Ultimately, the study argues that Vaazhai transforms a localized story of plantation workers into a wider political critique of ecological and social vulnerability.
Keywords: Eco-Precarity, Labour, Childhood, Slow Violence, Marginalization
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