(Changing) Economic Policies, (Increasing) Pressure on LandAt this very moment, the people of Sri Lanka face the daunting challenge of an economic crisis that loomed for long, but then escalated through the ‘balance of payment problem’. This problem, though, is embedded in a wider crisis of political leadership with a government that has, by now,… Continue reading (Changing) Economic Policies, (Increasing) Pressure on Land, and the (Continuing) Challenge of Land Governance in Sri Lanka – Urs Geiser
Author: ssalanka
‘The Writing Was on The Wall’: Debt Distress and Ways Forward in Sri Lanka – Jayati Ghosh
In the fourth in a series of talks organised by Polity magazine of the Social Scientists’ Association and the Women and Media Collective with feminist economists abroad to help us in Sri Lanka think through this economic crisis that we inhabit, and how best to respond to it in ways that take forward or at… Continue reading ‘The Writing Was on The Wall’: Debt Distress and Ways Forward in Sri Lanka – Jayati Ghosh
“Galle Face was Important, but Not the Whole Thing” – Dileepa Witharana
Colombo’s Galle Face Green became a symbol of democratic activism in Sri Lanka, for more than 100 days from April to July 2022 with young people in particular from across the country converging there to protest against a president, his family, and their government, whose corruption and short sighted policies were chiefly blamed for the… Continue reading “Galle Face was Important, but Not the Whole Thing” – Dileepa Witharana
Selvi: Loss, Dissent, and Hope – Sivamohan Sumathy
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
විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍ර තුළ “ආකයිවය” පිළිබඳ න්‍යාය[1] – මාර්ලීන් මෑනොෆ්
පරිවර්තනය: ප්‍රවීන් තිලකරත්න සාරසංක්ෂේපය: පසුගිය දශකය තුළ බොහෝ අධ්‍යයන ක්ෂේත්‍ර තුළින් ආකයිවය පිළිබඳ නිර්මාණශීලී හා වැදගත් න්‍යායාත්මක සංකල්පන ඉදිරිපත් වී ඇත. ඩෙරිඩා හා ෆූකෝ ඇතුළු බොහෝ මානව ශාස්ත්‍රඥයින් හා සමාජ විද්‍යාඥයින් ආකයිවයේ ස්වභාවය පිළිබඳ පුළුල් අන්තර්-ක්ෂේත්‍රීය සාකච්ඡාවක් අරඹා තිබේ. ඓතිහාසික හා ශාස්ත්‍රීය වාර්තාවේ කෘත්‍යය හා ඉරණම පිළිබඳව විද්‍යාර්ථීන්ගේ, ලේඛනාරක්ෂකයින්ගේ, සහ පුස්තකාලාධි-පතීන්ගේ සිත් යොමු වී ඇති… Continue reading විවිධ ක්ෂේත්‍ර තුළ “ආකයිවය” පිළිබඳ න්‍යාය[1] – මාර්ලීන් මෑනොෆ්
SL Govt – Stop Labeling Student Protestors and Activists as Terrorists!
We are a group of feminists writing to call urgent attention to the extra-constitutional attempts of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to suppress dissent. Lacking a popular mandate, hunting down student protestors and activists, including a LGBTIQ activist has become a central strategy of the political élite to retain power. The latest move by… Continue reading SL Govt – Stop Labeling Student Protestors and Activists as Terrorists!
‘Aragalaya’: Situation Nominal, Tense Future – Vajra Chandrasekera
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
ප්‍රවාද 38 (2022, අගෝස්තු) – වර්තමානයේ මාන
පිටකවර චිත්‍රය: නවින්ද්‍රි රණතුංග පටුන නවලිබරල්වාදය සහ ‘නගරයට ඇති අයිතිය’: මෑතකාලීන කොළඹ නාගරික අවකාශමය නවීකරණයෙහි බහිෂ්කරණය – හසිනි ලේකම්වසම් විසම්මුතික ස්මරණය සහ ප්‍රජාතාන්ත්‍රික පුරවැසිභාවය: සන්ධ්‍යා එක්නැලිගොඩ සහ යුක්තිය සඳහා ඇගේ අරගලය – චූලනී කොඩිකාර සමු(නො)ගැනීම – සන්ධ්‍යා එක්නැළිගොඩ නූතනකේන්ද්‍රවාදය සහ ඉතිහාසයේ සත්‍යයන් දෙකක්: සංකල්පනීය කුරුට්ටක් – අමරු සත්තසායි ‘සදාතනික වර්තමානය’ විකිණීමට තිබේ..! අනාගතය අදයි’..! –… Continue reading ප්‍රවාද 38 (2022, අගෝස්තු) – වර්තමානයේ මාන
The Postcolonial Handbook of Violent Repression: Constructing Citizens as Enemies, Fascists, Extremists, Drug Addicts, Terrorists, etc., etc. – Chulani Kodikara
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
“Illegitimate Government, Immediately Halt Repression!” FUTA Statement on the Current Situation
As a professional trade union which has historically stood for social justice in Sri Lanka, FUTA is appalled by the massive repression unleashed on leading Aragalaya activists by the illegitimate Wickremasinghe-Pohottuwa government. FUTA as an organisation identifies itself with the spirit of the Aragalaya. We stand by the brave youth and activists drawn from all… Continue reading “Illegitimate Government, Immediately Halt Repression!” FUTA Statement on the Current Situation