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James Brow, Anuradhapura 1984, and the Question of Agrarian Change in Sri Lanka
Jonathan Spencer
James Brow was a British anthropologist who drifted from the nascent counter-culture of early 1960s London, to the mid-1960s West Coast of the USA, where
Sacrificing Accountability to Save the Official Narrative: The UK’s Legacy Act of 2023 and Parallels in Sri Lanka
Daniel Holder
Sacrificing Accountability to Save the Official Narrative: The UK’s Legacy Act of 2023 and Parallels in Sri Lanka Daniel Holder In September 2023, the
Understanding Fascism: Writings on Caste, Class & The State by K. Balagopal. Curated and Introduced by V. Geetha. Hyderabad: South Side Books, 241p.
Jairus Banaji
K.Balagopal was a civil rights activist and left-wing intellectual who was mainly active in Andhra Pradesh from the 1980s down to when he died in
Shyam Selvadurai’s Mansions of the Moon: A Lankan Review
Crystal Baines
The question of ‘woman’ in Buddhism has always rested on a paradox. On the one hand is the misogyny couched in the canon and in
“Put people at the centre of plans for socio-economic recovery and advancement”: No to IMF’s cosmetic civil society consultations!
68 Civil Society Organisations and Trade Unions
The IMF team is in Colombo for the Second Review of the ongoing Extended Fund Facility (EFF) loan agreement with Sri Lanka and will meet with
Two conceptions of Jewish identity
Rohini Hensman
Critics of religion who regard it as illusory and harmful, from Marx and his associates and followers to militant atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher
Undermining statutory rape protection in Sri Lanka
Kumudini Samuel and Chulani Kodikara
On 9th February, the government gazetted a Bill to amend Sections 363 and 364 of the Penal Code (Chapter 19) which deals with statutory rape.
Privatisation from within ‘Free Education’: Tuition Classes in Anuradhapura
Amali Waidyasekera
The school attendance of students facing national level examinations such as Ordinary and Advanced Level, drastically drops closer to the respective examinations according to the
Zionism in Crisis after October 7? What Crisis?
Neve Gordon
Editors’ Note: The remarks below by Professor Neve Gordon were made at a teach-in on Gaza at Queen’s University, Belfast (QUB) organised by the QUB
Boats in a Storm: Law, Migration, and Decolonization in South and Southeast Asia, 1942–1962 by Kalyani Ramnath. California: Stanford University Press, 2023, 308p.
Luc Bulten
Kalyani Ramnath’s Boats in a Storm contributes to the ever-growing body of literature using legal archives to help reconstruct a supernational history of the Indian
Opening: Post-doctoral and Senior Research Fellowships
The OSUN Forum on Democracy and Development by CEU Democracy Institute (Budapest), Universidad de los Andes, (Bogotá), the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at
On the Edge: University Education in Sri Lanka by Kaushalya Perera
At the COP-28 Climate Change Conference in Dubai in December 2023, Ranil Wickremesinghe announced the establishment of a Climate Change University in Sri Lanka. In
Independence Day – Binu Peiris
The Lankan flag sways high and mighty on Galle Face Green, The Lion roars with pride, bowing before Samarakoon’s words, A twenty-year-old is asked by
“One day, nobody will even ask about us”: The obsolete silversmiths of Kandy by Hasini Lecamwasam
Hand-operated silver rolling machine In the course of research into why the traditional craft economy, despite being a key medium through which Sinhala nationalism is
The Cannon and the Cranium: Towards a Wider Agenda for Reparatory Justice in Sri Lanka by Andi Schubert
Lewke Disave’s Cannon, Colombo National Museum Lara Wijesuriya’s excellent recent essay is a wonderful invitation for further conversation about the politics of repatriation and the
When crises converge: how uneven agrarian development influences the effects of climate change in Sri Lanka’s North-Central dry zone by Harry M. Quealy and Cherisma Rajaratnam
In 2016-2017, Sri Lanka’s North-Central dry zone suffered what had been described as the worst drought in decades (Fernandez 2017). The severe drought conditions, followed
Palestine and Us
Three months of atrocity upon atrocity and abomination upon abomination have passed since the dogs of war were unleashed over Palestine. As of the dawn
Best Reads 2023
Vajra Chandrasekera I have meant to read Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978) my whole adult life but only picked it up while glued to the current
Budget 2024: ‘Deep Marketisation’ in Sri Lanka by B. Skanthakumar
Ranil Wickremesinghe’s Budget for 2024 had safe passage on third reading on 13 December as expected, with a majority of 41 votes in the 225-member
A Voice from Palestine by M. A. Nuhman
[Israeli defence minister says: ‘‘We are fighting with human animals” and prime minister Netanyahu says in his address to the nation: ‘‘Israel is fighting with the