The period between 2001 and 2006 saw the rise and fall of an internationally supported effort to bring a protracted violent conflict in Sri Lanka to a peaceful resolution. A ceasefire agreement, signed in February 2002, was followed by six rounds of peace talks, but growing political violence, disagreements over core issues and a fragmentation of the constituencies of the key parties led to an eventual breakdown. In the wake of the failed peace process a new government pursued a highly effective ‘war for peace’ leading to the military defeat of the LTTE on the battlefields of the north east in May 2009. This book brings together a unique range of perspectives on this problematic and ultimately unsuccessful peace process. The contributions are based upon extensive field research and written by leading Sri Lankan and international researchers and practitioners. The framework of ‘liberal peacebuilding’ provides an analytical starting point for exploring the complex and unpredictable interactions between international and domestic players during the war-peace-war period. The lessons drawn from the Sri Lankan case have important implications in the context of wider debates on the ‘liberal peace’ and post conflict peacebuilding – particularly as these debates have largely been shaped by the ‘high profile’ cases such as Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. This book is of interest not only to Sri Lanka specialists but also to the wider policy/practitioner audience, and is a useful contribution to South Asian studies.

"A detailed and original work on a specific conflict....A useful platform for wider insights into the requirements of conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes more generally." -- Dr. Iain Atack, International Peace Studies, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity Coll., Dublin *** "A very valuable contribution to the history and the sociology of Sri Lanka and also to the search for a just solution for the Tamils." -- Francois Houtart, Professor Emeritus, Catholic U. of Louvain *** "The author's mastery of Sinhala, Tamil and English has given him a special cultural competence to analyse the Sri Lankan conflict within a geopolitical setting." -- Peter Schalk, Professor Emeritus, Uppsala U. *** "A challenging contribution to an ongoing critical examination of the connection between state and religion." -- Prof. Dr. Lieve Troch, Cultural and Religious Sciences, UMESP, Sao Paulo (Series: Theology, Ethics and Interreligious Relations. Studies in Ecumenics - Vol. 2)

Exploring the conflict management trajectories of Northern Ireland and Sri Lanka, this book engages in a discussion that highlights the importance of ‘decolonising’ approaches to peacebuilding and conflict management in deeply divided societies. Existing knowledge on the topic is largely produced in the Western academy, using global North-centric approaches. This book, written by a researcher from the global South who navigates the political life of a deeply divided society in Western Europe, begins a conversation on a new, 21st century re-conceptualization of ethno-national conflict in deeply divided societies, based on a paradigm of decolonising. This book will appeal to policymakers and practitioners in peacebuilding and related areas worldwide, and students of peace and conflict studies, as well as a general readership with an interest in decolonial approaches to world politics.

Scientific Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: 1,0, Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences Berlin AS (Intercultural Conflict Management), course: Conflict Management, language: English, abstract: A broad overview of the “internationalization” of peacebuilding in Sri Lanka is given in the beginning of this essay. An analysis of relevant actors and stakeholders is necessary to facilitate understanding of the international involvement while the Conflict Tree tool is used to visualize roots and effects of the difficult situation. Also the relevance of Track I and II approaches during the peacebuilding process and its effects on the conflict dynamics are discussed. Failures made by organizations during and after the Tsunami can be seen as the last straw to a non-reversible critical stance towards international engagement in Sri Lanka. Some of the main flaws will be discussed in detail, as well as organizational tactics to cope with the difficult situation caused by the flawed Tsunami aid response. As a conclusion, there will be a short needs analysis for changes in organizational practices.

This book details the manner in which Sri Lanka has missed numerous opportunities to secure peace between its two principal ethnic communities and how the intractable ethnic conflict has placed the country in a dire state. It provides an institutionalist explanation to the conflict, examines the Sinhalese-Tamil divisions that were exacerbated due to linguistic nationalism, and evaluates the extent to which the island’s political structure encouraged ethnocentrism. It also makes clear how such ethnocentrism has contributed to illiberal democracy and political decay. Furthermore, the book analyzes how both military and political strategies have failed to end the ethnic war and provides a structural explanation for the LTTE’s resistance to accept a negotiated peace, which would require the group to step back from its stated goal of creating a separate state. India’s shifting policy vis-à-vis the conflict is also examined in the context of its contrasting responses and postures—intervention in the 1980s and non-intervention currently.

A fascinating inside look at what it takes to bring irreconcilable foes to the conference table and the pressures of brokering peace in an ethnically riven society at war with itself

`Catherine Casey has written an excellent book that provides a lucid and comprehensive critical analysis of organizations.…[It] extends in reach and relevance beyond the specific field of organization studies and the sociology of organizations to encompass broader intellectual developments that have had a significant impact on contemporary sociology and cultural studies' - Barry Smart, Professor of Sociology, University of Portsmouth`I anticipate that it will prove to be an attractive book in organization studies, industrial sociology and general sociology. I am sure that this will be a book that will make a major impact' - Mike Reed, Professor of Organization Theory, Lancaster UniversityIn this comprehensive and scholarly book, the essential critical strands in organizational analysis are explained. It examines how central traditions have realigned in relation to the challenge of postmodernism and the new reflexive turn in organizational studies.Judicious, innovative and written with the needs of students in mind, this book offers a renewed and revitalized critical accent in organization studies - one that focuses on existing and emerging social tendencies, contestations and struggles. It will be essential reading for senior students of organization studies and sociology.