Livelihoods, basic services and social protection in Sri Lanka

2016

Dialectical Anthropology, 2015

The article ''Post-war Sri Lanka: exploring the path not taken'', provides a thorough summary of the complexities of the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka since its independence and challenges the taken-for-granted categories of ethnicity, nationality, and culture typically used to explain the conflict. It is strong in that it unpacks the complexities of these categories in light of empirically rich data and relevant scholarly studies. Much of the article is devoted to substantiating the author's claim that the meaning of these categories is generally assumed to be pure and fixed and that we instead need to approach them as diverse, hybrid, and fluid over time and space. Certainly, the author forces us to explore new approaches, or ''pathways not taken,'' to solve ethnic conflict by taking into account the theoretical and empirical complexities of these categories and the false premises on which they are based. However, despite the title of the article, the author fails to provide a clear explanation as what these ''pathways not taken'' to solve the ethnic conflict entail. It is unclear whether these pathways are ones already taken by the Sri Lankan government, Tamil community, or yet to be imagined. Indeed, the only alternative path suggested in the article is the need for a better understanding of culture and community and to replace ''ethnicity'' and ''ethnic group'' with ''culture'' and ''cultural community,'' with an emphasis on the hybridity, diversity, and fluidity of these categories over time and space. How these re-imaginations and replacements will lead society to fight against ''forms of oppression, ranging from discrimination to genocide and build inclusive democracies based on equality before the law'' is unclear. Would they not succumb to the same limitations of those concepts that the author wants us to discard? How would

Journal of Third World Studies, 2008

2011

textabstractAbstract: For decades, Sri Lanka has been a laboratory for research and scholarship on ethnic conflict, liberal peacebuilding and civil war. Methodologically, this pre-war academic work laments the risks of applying simplified “episode based approaches” and narrow theoretical frameworks leading to adventurous interventions with meager appreciation of the complexities of state-society relations. Although this has contributed significantly to a better understanding of the conflict, most of the resultant explanations have, in the aftermath of the official (or rather military) ending of the civil war in May 2009, become largely questionable. This paper relies upon materials collected during fieldwork during the first quarter of 2009 and 2011. In it, I explore the relevant state-in-society dynamics that have contributed to the co-existence of negative and positive peace, limited war and total war and to assess the capacities for violent conflict reproduction during the period...

2003

In the light of a growing number of unstabilized regions of warfare or post-war conditions, this paper investigates how civilians survive in the context of a civil war. It analyzes livelihood strategies of farmers in the war-torn areas of Sri Lanka. The analytical framework is based on a revised form of DFID's sustainable rural livelihoods approach placing particular attention on the institutional reproduction of household capital assets in the war economy. The paper delineates a three pillar model of household livelihood strategies focusing on how households (i) cope with the increased level of risk and uncertainty, (ii) adjust their economic and social household assets for economic survival, and how they (iii) use their social and political assets as livelihood strategies. Empirically, the paper analyses four local case studies from the east of Sri Lanka. A key conclusion from the empirical studies was that even though the four case studies were located geographically very clo...

Development and Change, 2004

As the number of de-stabilized regions of warfare or post-war conditions worldwide continues to grow, this article investigates how civilians survive in the context of a civil war. It analyses livelihood strategies of farmers in the war-torn areas of Sri Lanka, using an analytical framework based on a revised form of DFID's sustainable rural livelihoods approach, placing particular attention on the institutional reproduction of household capital assets in the war economy. The author delineates a three pillar model of household livelihood strategies focusing on how households (1) cope with the increased level of risk and uncertainty; (2) adjust their economic and social household assets for economic survival; and (3) use their social and political assets as livelihood strategies. Empirical evidence comes from four case study villages in the east of Sri Lanka. Although the four case studies were very close together geographically, their livelihood outcomes differed considerably depending on the very specific local political geography. The role of social and political assets is essential: while social assets (extended family networks) were important to absorb migrants, political assets (alliances with power holders) were instrumental in enabling individuals, households or economic actors to stabilize or even expand their livelihood options and opportunities. The author concludes that civilians in conflict situations are not all victims (some may also be culprits in the political economy of warfare), and that war can be both a threat and an opportunity, often at the same time.

VISTAS , 2010

Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic society. Although the exact time when this ethnic divisiveness began is difficult to identify, its ancientness can be presumed. As a consequence, the two main communities functioned differently in terms of the linguistic pattern, religious order, norms and practices. In the fold of a unitary state, ethnic divisiveness resulted in a conflict between the Sinhalese-majority and the Tamil minority, the latter blaming the causes of exploitation and deprivation. At one stage Tamils raised the demand for a separate State and started an armed campaign, which escalated into a prolonged civil war, which resulted in internal displacement and other social problems. The Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka were seriously affected by the civil war for the last two decades. The civil war led to intensify greatly the threshold of multiple vulnerabilities associated with agricultural, fishing, small-scale industries and other livelihood activities of these areas. This paper will trace these negative social consequences, particularly the implications for poverty. The paper will also theoretically examine the relationship between the ethnic conflict, displacement and poverty.

This paper attempts to demonstrate how the Westminster-Style of democracy adopted at independence instigated the spiral of polarization that led to the Sri Lankan civil war. The underlying analysis will focus on political entrepreneurship and how the majoritarian system of democratic governance incentivized the Sinhalese majority to promulgate sectarian policies and exclude the Tamil minority from access to political power. The paper will seek to rationalize the failure of inter-ethnic co-existence and elucidate the radicalization of the Tamil minority through the lens of the relative deprivation theory.

Building Local Capacities for Peace. Rethinking …, 2003

El propósito principal de este artículo es proporcionar una perspectiva sobre la importancia de la seguridad y la estabilidad de un país. El documento examina las diferencias de las insurrecciones que afectaron al norte y sur de Sri Lanka y como afectaron al propio país y los países vecinos como consecuencia del ciclo de viol encia generado. El análisis de los momentos decisivos en los conflictos, los esfuerzos para reducir el riesgo de un nuevo conflicto y la manera de encontrar un futuro más tolerante después de la guerra es una lección para las generaciones futuras.

WMO Conflict Insight, 2019

This article is probing the Sri Lankan Ethnic conflicts and Tamil Diaspora, and the struggle of minority Tamils in Sri Lanka. The ethnic war did end in 2009, with Sri Lankan government, dominated by the Sinhalese majority, defeating Tamil Tigers, the Warriors, who represented for ethnic Tamils. Auxiliary, this article is exploring the likelihoods of how the deep rifts created in the last 25 years, and what exactly are the root causes for the rifts are creating the feeling of inequality and oppression; and for a candid democratic system, which encourages autonomy for Tamil dominated regions, which was vouchsafed by the Sri Lankan government.

Journal of International Development and Cooperation, 2013

There are "unseen core causes" such as existing socio-economic structures protruding as "unseen hurdles" in post-conflict peacebuilding in northern Sri Lanka. Tamil caste system, caste based land ownership, education, employment opportunities and social recognition are ongoing challenges to reconcile grassroots intra Tamils rather than Sinhala and Tamil communities. The aim of this article is to reveal how the Tamil community's own caste issues triggered and later escalated the Sri Lankan protracted conflict. The article also emphasizes the importance that should be given to addressing the caste-based structural issues and its existing challenges to achieve positive peace in post-conflict northern Sri Lanka.

2010

Populations affected by violent conflicts often withstand threats to their security as well as threats to their livelihoods. Their response to the former threat nontrivially affects their response to the latter, vice versa. This paper identifies and assesses the effectiveness of certain such responses used in a protracted conflict setting by households in Medawachchiya DSD of the Anuradhapura district in Sri Lanka. The field work for this study involved a sample of 82 households and was conducted during January-April 2008. 1 We find evidence that protection and livelihood strategies of households affected by protracted conflict are often interlaced. We also find that Sinhalese and Muslim households had largely responded to the protracted conflict in ways that are unique to their ethnic group. This is evidently because certain vulnerabilities which impinge upon protection as well as certain opportunities that support livelihoods are ethnically biases. The differences in responses meant that the final outcome of these responses, mainly the income, also tended to differ across ethnicities.

Journal of Politics and Law

Sri Lanka came to the international limelight through the backdrop of its undesirable war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) that lasted over three decades. The LTTE was formed as a social force, and then it transformed as a leading armed movement to forward their decades-long quest to set up a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka. The government ended the LTTE’s secessionist struggle in May 2009 after a lengthy and bloody battle. Several national and international factors played a crucial role in ending the civil war sooner. The study used a qualitative method of inquiry to explore the key factors that led to the fall of the LTTE, a vigorous armed movement that attempted to set up a separate state in the Island of Sri Lanka. The findings show that strong political leadership, fortified security forces, implementing sophisticated national security strategies, the split of the LTTE and the global war on terrorism are the major factors that had a significant impact and contrib...