The open letter was signed by a number of current and formerly incarcerated political prisoners, political organisers and scholars, including Angela Davis, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Yasin al-Haj Saleh, Ricardo Jiménez, Michael Löwy, and Walden Bello, among others…

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.

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.