Category: Essay

The sky is clear over Colombo on the morning of 1 May 2023. This is a relief for May Day organisers and participants alike, after days and nights of heavy rain. Along one of the routes for the many marches today, red pennants, and Buddhist flags heralding Vesak festivities later this week, flutter on alternate… Continue reading May Day Diary 2023 – B. Skanthakumar

This text is adapted from a presentation made at a virtual discussion on the 2023 Budget organised by the Professionals’ Centre for People, on 26 November 2022. The 2023 Budget proposals will further aggravate the problem of high inflation and rising unemployment and has no mechanism to address capital outflows which triggered the ongoing foreign… Continue reading Budget 2023: Heal the Wound or Worsen it? – Dhanusha Gihan Pathirana

“To understand the community I am researching, i.e., the injustice and inequality its members are facing on a daily basis, I have to live among them, gain their trust and, through that trust, find ways to address the complex systematic forces and barriers that hold them down.” Nirmani Liyanage was an immensely talented and intellectually… Continue reading Nirmani Liyanage (2.2.1988-12.11.2022) – Nihal Perera

IntroductionThe question whether ‘the people’ of the North and East should or could protest in solidarity with the #GotaGoHome protest movement has been the subject of much debate (Pundir & Kanapathippillai 2022; Sandranathan 2022; Ellis-Petersen & Sandran 2022; De Soysa 2022; De Sayrah 2022). Since the end of the war, people in the North and… Continue reading Economic Crisis and Resistance in Batticaloa, Eastern Sri Lanka – Thavarasa Anukuvi

Given these shared challenges, in this article, we ask whether the quota for women in local government can foster solidarity among women within parties and across party lines to address gender discrimination and increase women’s representation and participation beyond local politics. Or is the idea of solidarity among women politicians to further their shared interests… Continue reading Solidarity among Women in Politics in Sri Lanka: Potentials and Challenges- Nadine Vanniasinkam and Viyanga Gunasekera

What can I write about a PEN awardee, a prisoner of conscience, a feminist, human rights activist, co-actor, and friend among friends, who disappeared from our lives without a word, without a good bye? Jaffna in the ‘80s was bleak, portending a bleaker future to come. There were many we lost in the ‘80s to… Continue reading Selvi: Loss, Dissent, and Hope – Sivamohan Sumathy

There is a tendency to shrink and reify that which is too big, too complex, and too diverse to otherwise easily talk about. This is often unintentional, an occupational hazard of political commentary; but also often intentional, as a malicious rhetorical device to shrivel an opponent down to size. A common way in which this… Continue reading ‘Aragalaya’: Situation Nominal, Tense Future – Vajra Chandrasekera

On 20 May 2022, in an interview with Sky News, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was asked whether it was safe for tourists to visit Sri Lanka. His response was: “Well those who want an exciting time can come and maybe they could even take part in the demonstrations. Maybe they could hold placards which say… Continue reading The Postcolonial Handbook of Violent Repression: Constructing Citizens as Enemies, Fascists, Extremists, Drug Addicts, Terrorists, etc., etc. – Chulani Kodikara

Ranil Wickremesinghe’s ascent to the Executive Presidency represents a system in utter decay. But the unsteady structure will not topple with one, final push. Instead, we have seen that after ousting Gotabaya Rajapaksa, protestors have encountered a far more elaborate and complex state machinery behind the President himself, much as Antonio Gramsci discovered the “trenches… Continue reading Ranil Wickremesinghe’s election: Results and Prospects for Democratic Revival in Sri Lanka – Devaka Gunawardena

The Rajani Thiranagama Memorial Lecture was delivered in Tamil by V. Geetha on 2 October 2021. When I was invited to deliver a lecture on the occasion of Rajani Thiranagama’s death anniversary, I felt honoured. Contemplating what I could say on this sombre occasion, I felt somewhat beholden to the pasts that Rajani had stood… Continue reading Democracy: A Feminist Perspective – V. Geetha