For sixty-six years, until his death in 2014, the legendary comrade Bala Tampoe led the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU)—and turned a clerks’ association into a militant, multi-ethnic vanguard of the working class…

On 19 August 2026, Tamara Fernando led a discussion at the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA), which centered around her new book, “Shallow Blue Empire: A History of Pearl Diving in the Indian Ocean 1850 – 1930”. The book discusses the nuanced history of pearling in the Persian Gulf, Mergui Archipelago, and the Gulf of Mannar, focusing on the intersections of labour, colonialism and the environment. Fernando traced the histories of migrant labour and the colonial systems of trade and seafaring that contributed to pearling, while also mapping the intricate histories of pearl diving communities in the Indian Ocean world. The discussion reflected on the geographical and anthropological transformations that took place over time.

On 12 August 2026, the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) hosted a talk by Prof. Alf Gunvald Nilsen, which centered around a conjunctural analysis of authoritarian populism in the global South, with a focus on South Africa, India, the Philippines and Brazil. Nilsen outlined the manner in which exclusionary markers such as religion, nationality, race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. are utilised to foster a reactionary crisis that drives states towards authoritarianism through popular consent; even as they persist with neoliberalism driving up inequalities within society. The discussion that followed took up issues of the country case studies, uses and abuses of populism, the inter-relationships between Global North and Global South and much more.

On 25 August 2026, the Social Scientists’ Association hosted a discussion with Mark Balmforth on Tobacco Rani: The Case for a Jaffna Slave Society, 1784 – 1844. Balmforth presented an archival analysis that discussed land ownership, slave-grown tobacco’s unique economic, social, and political importance for Jaffna in the period, and its impact on agriculture, labour, and caste. The discussion reflected on the gendered aspects of labour and the caste structures that continue to persist and complicate social hierarchies in Jaffna society.

148 pages. #SriLanka . Politics. Cyclone Ditwah. Ecology. Feminism. Education. Justice. Domestic Violence Act. History. Culture. Work. Labour. Books. Cover Picture Sakuna Miyasinadha Gamage. LKR1000 from the Social Scientists’ Association or Barefoot or SLBOOKS.lk.