In Quest for Civil Society:

An Interview with Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri

This is an interview with Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri, the former President of the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) and a key voice in the civil society coalition that contributed to the January 8th election victory of President Maithripala Sirisena. In what has become his characteristically critical and reflexive fashion, Dr. Dewasiri shares his thoughts on the relationship between civil society and governance as well as the challenges of building and maintaining coalitions, particularly after the success of a political movement.

In Quest for Civil Society: An Interview with Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri by Social Scientists’ Association on Scribd

To encourage more critical debate and discussion, the Editors have chosen to close the comments sections for these articles. Readers interested in critical engagement with the views of the author are encouraged to write short responses (200-400 words) that may be carried in the Letters section of the next Issue of Polity. Such letters can be sent to the Editors, by emailing polity@ssalanka.org.