The Rajani Thiranagama Memorial Lecture was delivered in Tamil by V. Geetha on 2 October 2021. When I was invited to deliver a lecture on the occasion of Rajani Thiranagama’s death anniversary, I felt honoured. Contemplating what I could say on this sombre occasion, I felt somewhat beholden to the pasts that Rajani had stood… Continue reading Democracy: A Feminist Perspective – V. Geetha
Author: ssalanka
The Changing Role of Caste in Northern Sri Lanka. Thiruchandran, Selvy. Caste and its Multiple Manifestations: A Study of the Caste System in Northern Sri Lanka. Colombo: Bay Owl Press, 2021, pp. 231 + xii – Reviewed by Kalinga Tudor Silva
Caste in Sri Lanka is something of an enigma to social critics and social researchers alike. People do not justify, refer to or even openly talk about caste in day-to-day conversations. Yet caste seems to operate at various levels in Sinhala and Tamil communities in marriage partner selection, recruitment to some branches of the labour… Continue reading The Changing Role of Caste in Northern Sri Lanka. Thiruchandran, Selvy. Caste and its Multiple Manifestations: A Study of the Caste System in Northern Sri Lanka. Colombo: Bay Owl Press, 2021, pp. 231 + xii – Reviewed by Kalinga Tudor Silva
Polity Vol.9 No.1 & 2
Editorial Polity Turns 30! ‘Executive Authoritarianism’ as Sri Lanka’s New Political Normal since COVID19* – Jayadeva Uyangoda US Withdrawal from Afghanistan and Its Impact on Sri Lankan Democracy – Pradeep Peiris Reflections from a State Quarantine Centre during COVID19: Militarisation of the Welfare State in Sri Lanka – Thavarasa Anukuvi Maligawatte, 2020 – Vivimarie VanderPoorten… Continue reading Polity Vol.9 No.1 & 2
What is this Crisis? Ahilan Kadirgamar
Dr. Ahilan Kadirgamar made this presentation at an online discussion on the current economic crisis in Sri Lanka, organised by the Kuppi Collective on April 26, 2022. It was transcribed by Treshan Fernando and edited for publication by Polity. In this talk, I wish to address three questions: One, what kind of crisis is this?… Continue reading What is this Crisis? Ahilan Kadirgamar
නූතනකේන්ද්‍රවාදය සහ ඉතිහාසයේ සත්‍යයන් දෙකක්: සංකල්පනීය කුරුට්ටක් – අමරු සත්තසායි
… කථනය පිළිබඳ යමක් මෙතැන පරදුවට තබා ඇත. ගලායාමක් වන්නට තිබුණු දෙයක් තුළ තමා ගලා නොයන මුරණ්ඩු ගැටයක් යැයි කතා කෙරෙන්නෙකුට හැඟෙනවානම්, ඌ කෙසේ නම් කතා කරන්න ද? මෙතැන “කෙරෙන්නා” යනු “සබ්ජෙක්ට්” යන ඉංග්‍රීසි වචනයට සමතුල්‍ය යෙදෙමුකි: කෙරෙන්නා අතින් යම්කිසි ක්‍රියාවක් කෙරෙයි; යම් ක්‍රියාවලියක් විසින් කෙරෙන්නාව ද කරවනු ලබයි. ඉතිං මෙම කෙරෙන්නා කෙසේ කතා කරන්න… Continue reading නූතනකේන්ද්‍රවාදය සහ ඉතිහාසයේ සත්‍යයන් දෙකක්: සංකල්පනීය කුරුට්ටක් – අමරු සත්තසායි
Our broken nation lies before us: ‘The People’s Command’ – From the Galle Face Aragalaya bhoomi
Our broken nation lies before us, caught up in an unprecedented social and economic tragedy of incomparable historic proportions. Young and old spend hours and days queuing for petrol, gas, medicine. Some have even died in these queues. The cost of food skyrockets before our eyes, and our beloved farmers, unable to tend their… Continue reading Our broken nation lies before us: ‘The People’s Command’ – From the Galle Face Aragalaya bhoomi
The IMF in Debt Restructuring, the Resurgence of Austerity, and the Urgency of Fiscal Justice – Bhumika Muchhala
As Sri Lanka officially defaults on its sovereign debt repayments, and enters negotiations with the International Monetary Fund for access to loans in return for structural macro-economic change in response to the ongoing economic crisis, the Women and Media Collective, the Social Scientists’ Association, and the Feminist Collective for Economic Justice jointly organised an online… Continue reading The IMF in Debt Restructuring, the Resurgence of Austerity, and the Urgency of Fiscal Justice – Bhumika Muchhala
“People are starting to see that we were right”: Interview with University Students by Hasini Lecamwasam
University students are not new to political dissent and action, and the current wave of anti-government protests in Sri Lanka have been no exception. They have been actively denouncing many actions of the current government since early on, independently as well as in solidarity with other movements. In this interview, Hasini Lecamwasam from Polity speaks… Continue reading “People are starting to see that we were right”: Interview with University Students by Hasini Lecamwasam
‘The Act of Protest is a Privilege’: Serika Siriwardhana from Yellow for Democracy interviewed by Treshan Fernando
On 4th April 2022, Independence Square was filled with an estimated 8000 people, possibly in one of the biggest political gatherings the square has seen in recent times. Most of them were young people reiterating the call reverberating through a number of smaller protests across Colombo in the month of March—for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to… Continue reading ‘The Act of Protest is a Privilege’: Serika Siriwardhana from Yellow for Democracy interviewed by Treshan Fernando
An Undemocratic Political Deal: FUTA on Ranil Wickremesinghe Appointment
As the national trade union representing university academics, which has stood firmly behind the ongoing people’s struggle for democracy and economic stability, the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) strongly condemns the non-consultative and self-serving appointment of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on 12 May 2022. On… Continue reading An Undemocratic Political Deal: FUTA on Ranil Wickremesinghe Appointment