At the point of independence in 1948, Sri Lanka was projected to be a success story in the developing world. However, in July 1983 a violent ethnic conflict which pitted the Sinhalese against the Tamils began, and did not come to an end until 2009. This conflict led to nearly 50,000 combatant deaths and approximately 40,000 civilian deaths, as well as almost 1 million internally-displaced refugees and to the permanent migration abroad of nearly 130,000 civilians. With a focus on Sri Lanka, this book explores the political economy of ethnic conflict, and examines how rival political leaders are able to convince their ethnic group members to follow them into violent conflict. Specifically, it looks at how political leaders can influence and utilize changes in the level of economic liberalization in order to mobilize members of a certain ethnic group, and in the case of Sri Lanka, shows how ethnic mobilization drives can turn violent when minority ethnic groups are economically marginalized by the decisions that the majority ethnic group leaders make in order to stay in power. Taking a political economy approach to the conflict in Sri Lanka, this book is unique in its historical analysis and provides a longitudinal view of the evolution of both Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic drives. As such, this interdisciplinary study will be of interest to policy makers as well as academics in the field of South Asian studies, political science, sociology, development studies, political economy and security studies.

The book provides a detailed historically-based analysis of the origin, evolution and potential resolution of the civil conflict in Sri Lanka over the struggle to establish a separate state in its Northern and Eastern provinces. This conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is one of the world’s most intractable contemporary armed struggles. The internationally banned LTTE is considered the prototype of modern terrorism. It is known to have introduced suicide bombing to the world, and recently became the first terrorist organization ever to acquire an air force. The ‘iron law of ethnicity’ – the assumption that cultural difference inevitably leads to conflict – has been reinforced by the 9/11 attacks and conflicts like the one in Sri Lanka. However, the connections among ethnic difference, conflict, and terrorism are not automatic. This book broadens the discourse on the separatist conflict in Sri Lanka by moving beyond the familiar bipolar Sinhala versus Tamil ethnic antagonism to show how the form and content of ethnicity are shaped by historical social forces. It develops a multipolar analysis which takes into account diverse ethnic groups, intra-ethnic, social class, caste and other variables at the local, regional and international levels. Overall, this book presents a conceptual framework useful for comparative global conflict analysis and resolution, shedding light on a host of complex issues such as terrorism, civil society, diasporas, international intervention and secessionism.

"Will be of interest to those working on conflict and peace studies, economic development, cultural studies, and women in the modern world. A key new publication." --Chandra R. de Silva, Old Dominion University ..". offers a superb overview of how a civil war, driven by ethnicity, can engender a new culture and a new political economy... Highly recommended." -- Choice Economy, Culture, and Civil War in Sri Lanka provides a lucid and up-to-date interpretation of Sri Lankan society and its 20-year civil conflict. An interdisciplinary examination of the relationship between the economy, broadly defined, and the reproduction of violent conflict, this volume argues that the war is grounded not just in the goals and intentions of the opposing sides, but also in the everyday orientations, experiences, and material practices of all Sri Lankan people. The contributors explore changing political and policy contexts; the effect of long-term conflict on employment opportunities and life choices for rural and urban youth; life histories, memory, and narratives of violence; the "economics of enlisting" and individual decisions about involvement in the war; and nationalism and the moral debate triggered by women's employment in the international garment manufacturing industry. Contributors are Francesca Bremner, Michele Ruth Gamburd, Newton Gunasinghe, Siri T. Hettige, Caitrin Lynch, John M. Richardson, Jr., Amita Shastri, Deborah Winslow, and Michael D. Woost.

The book provides a new conceptualisation of inflation in underdeveloped economies, through Sri Lanka’s historical experience. It outlines a general theory of nationalisms in their diverse manifestations across the world, within a historical perspective of capitalist development and underdevelopment. The book, therefore, seeks to capture the production mode holistically, within both its infrastructural and superstructural levels probing their interactions. The theoretical structure through which inflation is analysed synthesises the theory of unproductive labour and Marxian theory of prices of production with labour surplus theory of late Dr. S. B. D. De Silva in the context of underdevelopment. In this light, Professor David Laibman’s Allocation Problem is resolved within a Marxist framework to provide an operational significance to the theory and its application. In the same vein the book also provides a new theoretical interpretation of Sri Lanka’s historical development from the British period onwards through application of theories of capitalist development and surplus labour.

Social, political, economic and constitutional developments are considered as well as the evolution of science and arts in the development process. This is in accordance with the Sri Lankan tradition of seeing the world as a connected whole."--BOOK JACKET.

With the exception of Sri Lanka, South Asian countries have not achieved quality basic education – an essential measure for escaping poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. In The Political Economy of Education in South Asia, John Richards, Manzoor Ahmed, and Shahidul Islam emphasize the importance of a dynamic system for education policy. The Political Economy of Education in South Asia documents the weak core competency (reading and math) outcomes in government primary schools in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and the consequent rapid growth of non-government schools over the last two decades. It compares the training, hiring, and management of teachers in South Asian schools to successful national systems ranging from Singapore to Finland. Discussing reform options, it makes the case public good and public priorities are better served when both public and non-government providers come under a strong public policy and accountability framework. The Political Economy of Education in South Asia draws on the authors' broad engagement in education research and practice in South Asia, as well as analysis by prominent professors of education and NGO leaders, to place basic education in a broad context and make the case that universal literacy and numeracy are necessary foundations for economic growth.