scholarly journals To Be or Not to Be a Hero

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-114
Author(s):  
Matti Weisdorf ◽  
Birgitte Refslund Sørensen

Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork in and around a so-called War Hero Village (Ranavirugama) in northwestern Sri Lanka, this article traces the social (un)becomings of Sri Lankan Army veterans injured during the civil war with the Tamil liberation front. It argues that such veterans have long been able to draw on a materially rewarding narrative of sacrifice and carnal capital—epitomized in the honorific ranaviru (war hero)—in order to produce a particular kind of veteran citizenship, let alone subjectivity, and thus to pursue socially meaningful post-injury existences. In the eyes of the veterans themselves, however, this celebratory narrative is eroding and a “collective narrative” characterized by a kind of social forgetting of the injured veteran is emerging. Material benefits notwithstanding, this narrative contestation entails a “struggle for recognition” that threatens to leave them not only disabled but also with no one to be, or become.

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 437-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laksiri Jayasuriya

Following the presidential and parliamentary elections in 2010, the Sri Lankan political system has seen the rise of a ‘one-party dominant state’ and a ‘hybrid regime’. This new political order consists of a mix of democratic and authoritarian elements largely seen in countries such as Malaysia and Singapore. This essay examines the social and political changes introduced by the highly militarized regime led by Mahinda Rajapaksa, which has slanted towards a Kautilyan ideology and authoritarian constitutionalism. It is argued that Sri Lanka needs a glasnost, marking a new political and social ethos based on the principles of accountability, openness, transparency, freedom and justice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-330
Author(s):  
Kamala Ganesh

As an interdisciplinary field, Diaspora Studies has drawn from many disciplines, including sociology, especially from its debates on migration, structure and agency. This lecture draws on my ethnographic fieldwork on the Sri Lankan Tamils in Germany. It analyses their transition following the civil war in Sri Lanka, from being refugee immigrants to becoming a successful diaspora, well integrated economically, yet holding a powerful identity as Tamil nationalists. Fuelled by political commitment and digital connectivity, their innovative strategies as a diaspora have contributed to the propagation of the Tamil cause. Their example extends and complicates the classic notion of ‘victim diaspora’, demonstrating the simultaneity of victimhood and agency.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10659
Author(s):  
Magdalena Kowalska

Current changes in the business environment mean that the pursuit of economic development—without accounting for social welfare and environmental constraints—is replaced by the concept of sustainable development. Enterprises, in order to meet market requirements, adopt sustainable marketing as part of their strategy to provide long-term benefits in the social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The article aims to assess the differences in the use of marketing mix tools (5P) according to the concept of sustainable development in countries with different socioeconomic conditions. The empirical study was based on 262 questionnaires conducted among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in two different countries, i.e., 150 companies operating in Poland (as an example of a developed country) and 112 in Sri Lanka (as an example of a developing country). The obtained results show that there are statistically significant differences between the analyzed markets in terms of implementing sustainable marketing tools. The results allow us to conclude that the sustainable marketing mix activities are significantly more important for SEM managers in Sri Lanka than in Poland.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Satkunam

This research paper focuses on the Tamil diaspora community in Canada that developed in the aftermath of the Civil War in Sri Lanka. This paper explores the impact of trauma on children of survivors, and how daughters in particular navigate these traumas. Furthermore, this paper analyzes how young women bear the trauma differently from their male counterparts, as women tend to be seen as carriers of culture. These ideas of women as carriers of culture do not afford Tamil women agency—instead they are left without choice in certain situations. Ultimately, this paper explores if art can be used as a mechanism to release the burden women feel. It uses the interview of eight Tamil women to understand their complex narratives, and to see if they use art as a means to reclaim agency. Key words: Diaspora, Sri Lankan, Art, Second-Generation Tamil Women, Identity, Cultural Purity


Author(s):  
Kusalika Ariyarathne ◽  
Pavithra Jayarathne

Preliminary results of a numerical model developed to detail spatial and temporal assessment of theoretically available near shore wave energy, and potential wave energy extracting sites, along the Sri Lankan coast is presented in this paper. Wave energy is estimated applying Danish Hydraulic Institute's Mike 21 Spectral Wave (SW) module. The model is developed and applied covering an area along the coast line of entire country extending from 315000 to 640000 mE, and 602000 to 1164000 mN. Model was run with boundary inputs of wind and wave, based on long term measured, and long term hindcast directional wave data available at seven locations, which are well distributed around the country. Model calibration and validation are carried out based on long term measured directional wave data at Colombo, Sri Lanka. Based on the estimated wave energy density maps, and spatial and temporal energy variations, Hambantota, in South East coast is identified as the most feasible location for wave energy harnessing. Annual and seasonal availability of the wave energy, for Hambantota area, at 25 m depth, were looked into in detail. In the above area, mean annual energy potential was estimated as 10 kW/m at 25 m depth, whereas maximum annual potential energy was estimated as 36 kW/m. During South West monsoon, where high waves are present, the mean energy potential is estimated as 15 kW/m.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/dPa9istaB7A


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Anushka Perinpanayagam

<p>Since the island nation of Sri Lanka attained independence in 1948, it has experienced periods of civil unrest marked by riots and government implemented curfews. In the mid-1980s this agitation erupted into civil war between two parties: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Sri Lankan government. Each is associated with a different ethnic group and a very particular nationalist rhetoric. Kristian Stokke and Anne Kirsti Ryntveit, "The Struggle For Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka,”Growth and Change 31 (2000): 285. The LTTE, a group of militant separatists, claims to represent the Tamil population of the north and east, while the Sri Lankan government is mostly comprised of politicians belonging to the island's ethnic majority - the Sinhalese. Serena Tennekoon, "Newspaper Nationalism: Sinhala Identity as Historical Discourse," in Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict, ed. Jonathon Spencer (London: Routledge, 1990), 205.</p>


Subject Political instability in Sri Lanka. Significance Parliament resumed early last month after being prorogued by President Maithripala Sirisena. Sri Lanka’s National Unity Government (NUG), formed after the 2015 legislative elections, is a coalition between Sirisena’s Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP). Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) leads the Joint Opposition (JO). According to the constitution, a two-thirds parliamentary majority would be required for Sirisena to bring forward the next legislative elections due in 2020. Impacts The breakdown in party discipline in parliament suggests instability will be a long-term feature of Sri Lankan politics. Judicial campaigns against the Rajapaksa family will intensify, despite its sustained political influence. Political uncertainty will cause the Sri Lankan rupee to fall further against the dollar.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 1348-1354
Author(s):  
Pivithuru Janak Kumarasinghe ◽  
Anuraj Wickramasinghe

Economists are torn between basically three schools of thoughts where the first theory states that the population growth will stimulate the economic growth of a country and other believes that the population growth will bring detrimental or adverse impact to the economic growth. Not only that, but there is another school of thought, which believes that the population growth is a neutral factor in economic growth. Given this diverse of opinions, through this study it is expected to established a firm relationship between the population growth and the economic growth of Sri Lanka. This study developed an econometric model using time series data from 1980 to 2015 and tested the relationship not only the GDP of Sri Lanka, but other significant variables of an economy such as Domestic Savings, Private consumption and Total Investment as well.  The results of this study indicate absence of a long term relationship between the population growth and the GDP of Sri Lanka and there will be no any relationship between the other selected variables and the population growth of Sri Lanka. The Granger Causality Analysis found out a unidirectional relationship between the GDP and the population growth, running from population growth to GDP. The study concludes that in Sri Lankan context, the population growth will not have any significant impact on the economic growth.


2006 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 20-28
Author(s):  
Ranjith Dayaratne

This paper examines the transformations that have been taking place in culture and built form in Sri Lanka and their spatial geography mooted by the open economic policies introduced in the 1970 s and the subsequent developments. It analyses the major facets of the dominant Sinhalese culture having located them within the sacred and profane realms, nature and its social make up. Major characteristics of the traditional culture and built-form are identified and through a longitudinal study of six case studies around the southern region, the study elucidates the major transformations and the social and societal forces behind them. The paper proposes three models for understanding such cultural transformations; Conventional-Sri Lankan, Transitional-Sri Lankan, and Euro-Sri Lankan, the forms of which could also be used in other similar situations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 153270862110503
Author(s):  
V. Michelle Michael

This is an autoethnographic invitation to make space for different standpoints of women caught in war. This multi-genre project reflects on the standpoint of the author’s family as a female-led, female-only household in the capital of Sri Lanka amid the civil war. Grounded on the concept of ethnicity without groups and feminist standpoint theory, this piece adds to the often-homogenized voices of Tamil women. Using integrated crystallization to challenge the dichotomy of art and science, this layered piece weaves together storytelling and theory-based critique to open conversations about wholesome representation. The stories reveal the multichrome nature of ethnicities that often get painted as monochromes. The analyses highlight the intersectionality of women’s position and sound the alarm for possible marginalization within the marginalized through a unidimensional expression. The author invites more voices to diversify the standpoints of women caught in the Sri Lankan civil war and contribute to a more comprehensive reality of their experiences.


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