Scholarship for Social Transformation

Upcoming Events

Critical Agrarian Studies Seminar

Caste and Agrarian Question in Central Sri Lanka by Kalinga Tudor Silva

20 August (Tuesday)
5.00pm-6.30pm

Academic Freedom Inception Meeting

24 August (Saturday)
10.30am-1.30pm

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Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) is a pioneering social science research institute in Sri Lanka, striving to be a catalyst for social change through research, publications and advocacy. With an equitable vision of society in mind, SSA provides a platform to scholars and practitioners to engage in research and advocacy not only on issues pertaining to human rights and freedom but also on broader socio-economic justice. The SSA is deeply committed to promoting a culture of knowledge production that informs and undergirds interventions aimed at achieving social emancipation for marginalized communities.

Polity

Polity is the English language left magazine published by SSA since 2003. It has been online since 2021 and aims to advance democratic consciousness, gender equality, state reform, and social justice in Sri Lanka, while interested in South Asia and the World.

Pravada

ප්‍රවාද සමාජ විද්‍යාඥයින්ගේ සංගමයේ සිංහල මාධ්‍ය සඟරාවයි. එය මානව ශාස්ත්‍ර, සමාජ විද්‍යා, කලාව හා සංස්කෘතිය මෙන්ම පොදු සමාජීය කතිකාව සම්බන්ධයෙන් විචාරශීලී හා නිර්මාණාත්මක මැදිහත්වීම් සඳහා කැප වූ අවකාශයකි. 

Pravesha

“ප්‍රවේශ” සමාජ විද්‍යාඥයින්ගේ සංගමය විසින් 2019 වසරේ ආරම්භ කරන ලද තරුණ විද්‍යාර්ථීන් සඳහා කැප වූ සිංහල මාධ්‍ය ශාස්ත්‍රීය සඟරාවකි. 

Critical Agrarian Studies

Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) has a deep legacy of creating debate and discussion on agrarian change in Sri Lanka since the 1980s. 

Latest Events

Political Economy Lecture Series

The Social Scientists’ Association launched a Political Economy Lecture series, led by Dr. Devaka Gunawardena that ran through May to July 2024. Designed to foster deep discussions, the series invited a carefully selected group of academics, practitioners and young scholars to ensure a rich and engaging dialogue. The series had six lectures that revolved around a plethora of topics ranging from the historical evolution of political economy as a critical field of inquiry to social reproduction, democracy to variations in political regimes and neo-colonialism.

Recent Research

Youth as a Catalyst for Change

The island-wide survey ‘Youth as a Catalyst for Change’ aimed to assess youth perspectives on politics in general. The overarching goal of this study was to understand the youth’s attitudes and expectations towards democratic politics in the country. The in-depth understanding of youth politics that this study provided, complements ongoing and future programming efforts undertaken by the SSA in enhancing political literacy, and political participation of youth. Furthermore, this study aimed to contribute to civil society efforts in enhancing youth participation in democratic politics and thereby improve the quality of democracy in Sri Lanka.

Publications

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Recent Videos

JAMES BROW, ANURADHAPURA 1984, AND THE QUESTION OF AGRARIAN CHANGE

JONATHAN SPENCER

IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURAL DISEMPOWERMENT OF FARMERS IN RURAL SRI LANKA

VIDURA MUNASINGHE

UNDERSTANDING LAND RIGHTS THROUGH COLLECTIVE FARMER STRUGGLES

NATASHA VAN-HOFF