New PDF release: Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict

By Jonathan Spencer

ISBN-10: 0203407415

ISBN-13: 9780203407417

ISBN-10: 0415044618

ISBN-13: 9780415044615

Long ago decade, Sri Lanka has been engulfed by way of political tragedy as successive governments have did not settle the grievances of the Tamil minority in a manner applicable to the bulk Sinhala inhabitants. the recent Premadasa presidency faces large monetary and political issues of huge sections of the island lower than the keep an eye on of the Indian Peace-Keeping strength (IPKF) and militant separatist Tamil teams working within the north and south.This e-book isn't a standard political heritage of Sri Lanka. as an alternative, it makes an attempt to shed clean gentle at the ancient roots of the ethnic situation and makes use of a mix of old and anthropologial facts to problem the widely-held trust that the clash in Sri Lanka is just the continuation of centuries of animosity among the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The authors express how smooth ethnic identities were made and re-made because the colonial interval with the warfare among Tamils and the Sinhala-dominant govt observed via rhetorical wars over archeological websites and place-name etymologies, and the political use of the nationwide previous. The e-book is additionally one of many first makes an attempt to target neighborhood perceptions of the quandary and attracts on a large variety of resources, from village fieldwork to newspaper controversies. Its curiosity extends past modern politics to background, anthropology and improvement reports.

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Additional info for Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict

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Sir Alexander Johnston, for instance, collected information on the customary laws of the Tamils of Jaffna, the Mukkuvars in different parts of Batticaloa and Trincomalee, the Colombo Chetties, the Tamils of Puttalam, the Parawas and the Parsees. He also collected information on Kandyan Sinhala law, but could not do so for Low-Country Sinhala. 32 The decision to institute customary practice in the legal system, of course, did not mean that in this area there was no change, for each group’s ‘custom’ had now to be codified once and for all in a manner that substantialized and reified custom, making it less responsive to circumstance.

Bechert, ‘The beginnings of Buddhist historiography: Mahavamsa and political thought’, Ceylon Studies Seminar, Peradeniya, 1974, p. 7. Rahula, A History of Buddhism in Ceylon, Colombo, 1956, p. 79. 10 For example, Obeyesekere, ‘The vicissitudes’; Roberts, Caste Conflict; de Silva, A History. , p. 13. H. Gunawardana; see Gunawardana, this volume. Other useful reanalyses may be found in ESC and Committee for Rational Development, Sri Lanka—The Ethnic Confict, Delhi, 1984. Spencer, ‘The politics of plunder: the Cholas in eleventh century Ceylon’, JAS, 1976, vol.

When the centre was strong, its effective power extended further out; when it was weak, units and territories previously under its domination became autonomous or fell under the control of another centre. 27 By contrast, the modern state is territorially defined through ritualized boundaries which are recognized in international law, and which can only be crossed on the fulfilment of legally defined criteria. Seen as ideal types, there are a number of significant features of the modern nation-state which can be contrasted with earlier state forms.

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Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict by Jonathan Spencer


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