An Uneasy Hegemony
Politics of State-building and Struggles for Justice in Sri Lanka

It departs from the scholarship produced on Sri Lanka, and re-introduces the neo-Marxist approaches through the works of Antonio Gramsci.

Shyamika Jayasundara-Smits (Author)

9781009199247, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 November 2022

280 pages
23.6 x 16 x 2.7 cm, 0.59 kg

'This book engages in, and makes an important contribution to, longstanding debates on the trajectory and character of Sri Lanka's postcolonial state. Though ostensibly now a post war state, it remains a state in crisis. This lends urgency to the task of better understanding the historical and contemporary politics of statebuilding in Sri Lanka. The author eschews a narrow focus on ethnicity and armed conflict, instead providing a more intricate and integrated analysis of the discursive, political and economic factors that have shaped Sri Lanka's contested trajectory. At a time of a global resurgence of populist and authoritarian politics, it is important to look carefully at the particular conditions that give rise to such projects, as this book does so admirably.' Jonathan Goodhand, Professor of Conflict and Development Studies, SOAS, University of London

Sri Lanka has been regarded as a model democracy among former British colonies. It was lauded for its impressive achievement in terms of human development indicators. However, Sri Lanka's modern history can also be read as a tragic story of inter-ethnic inequalities and tensions, resulting in years of violent conflicts. Two long spells of anti-state youth uprisings were followed by nearly three decades of civil war, and most recently a renewed upsurge of events are examples of the on-going uneasy project of state-building. This book discusses that state-building in Sri Lanka is centred on the struggle for hegemony amidst a kind of politics that rejects individual and group equality, opposes the social integration of marginalised groups and appeals to narrow, fearful and xenophobic tendencies among the majority population and minorities alike. It answers the pressing questions of - How do the dynamics of intra-Sinhalese class relations and Sinhalese politics influence the trajectories of post-colonial state-building? What tensions emerge over time, between Sinhalese hegemony-building and wider state-building? How did these tensions manifest in majority and minority relationships? 

Dedication
Preface
List of Tables
List of Acronyms
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Politics of judgement
3. From nationalism to ethnic supremacy
4. Political patronage: Underbelly of everyday politics
5. State institutions and patronage politics
6. War and peace as politics by other means
7. What came after war?
Bibliography
Annexes
Index.

Subject Areas: Government powers [LNDH], Regional government [JPR], Central government [JPQ], Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Political structure & processes [JPH], Politics & government [JP], National liberation & independence, post-colonialism [HBTR], Peace studies & conflict resolution [GTJ]