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"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.

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"I'm going to break the ashes," yelled one daily drinker to another as their paths crossed early in the morning in the Sri Lankan village Michele Ruth Gamburd calls Naeaegama. The drinker's cryptic comment compared the warming power of alcohol--in the form of his first shot of kasippu, the local moonshine--with the rekindled heat of a kitchen fire.

As the adverse effects of globalization have brought poverty to many areas of the world, more people, particularly men, have increased their use and abuse of alcohol. Despite Buddhist prohibitions against the consumption of mind-altering substances, men in Naeaegama are drinking more, at a younger age, and the number of problem drinkers has begun to grow. In Breaking the Ashes, Gamburd explores the changing role of alcohol. Her account is populated with lively characters, many of whom Gamburd has known since visiting the village for the first time as a child.

In wonderfully clear prose Gamburd offers readers an understanding of the cultural context for social and antisocial alcohol consumption, insight into everyday and ceremonial drinking in Naeaegama, and an overview of the production of illicit alcohol. Breaking the Ashes includes a discussion of the key economic aspects that fuel conflicts between husbands and wives, moonshine-makers and police. Addressing Western and indigenous ways to conceptualize and treat alcohol dependence, Gamburd explores the repercussions--at the family as well as the community level--of alcohol's abuse. ... Read more

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Spatialising Politics: Culture and Geography in Postcolonial Sri Lanka brings together essays on the theme of spatial politics of Sri Lanka. Space is an important factor in the ongoing ethnic conflict fuelling Sri Lanka's continuing civil war. Claims and contestations over the integrity of island space and the control of northern and eastern territories are central to the violently contested dispute. The editors view space from a different perspective. They argue that space is important through a number of registers less frequently invoked in dominant approaches to understanding postcolonial Sri Lankan nationhood, identity and difference. The book examines and historicizes the role of spatialities often occluded within the debates on Sri Lankan politics such as, cities and built-space, diasporic productions and imaginations, commodity cultures and their concordant networks, knowledge spaces and 'foreign' intervention, landscape and sacred space, as well as geographical knowledge.

Situated at the intersection of human geography and postcolonial studies, the book signals the ways that postcolonialism and geography are intimately linked and how their intersections evoke the social, spatial and political effects of enduring colonial discourse and representation. In developing its argument, Spatialising Politics also gestures towards alternative spatial imaginations, possibilities and representations, at a time when spaces for alternative discourses on Sri Lankan politics are fast shrinking. ... Read more

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The collection of essays in this volume arose out of a symposium held at the International Center for Ethnic Studies (ICES) Colombo, where researchers and scholars presented some of their recent research interests.Although these essays individually relate to an assortment of subjects, they find general unity in the questioning of cultural and political identity in Sri Lanka by focusing on the structural and ideological rubric that channels its expression and on the discursive space in which this identity is allowed to flourish. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

review on an informative book
This book was very informative. It explained about life in Sri Lanka (a very interesting country). The cultures and politics were explained, too. ... Read more

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This collection of essays constitutes a tribute to the hybrid and multicultural nature of Sri Lanka's society and cultures, composed of Sinhala, Tamil, Muslims, and Burghers and including the major faiths - Buddhism, Hindu, Islam, and Christianity. The essays in this book cover a range of topics from the personal effects of hybridity to its political ramifications. They examine the Veddas and the Sinhalese, common kinship patterns of the Sinhalese and Tamils, the demonization of the Burghers of mixed ancestry, hybrid music forms, and the Kandyans and hybrid 'things'.
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In this book, Nalani Hennayake unravels how the development experience of a postcolonial society is deeply embedded in a complex historical relationship between culture and politics by focusing on the country of Sri Lanka. ... Read more

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Chapters: Sri Lankan Tamil Culture, Sri Lankan Tamil History, Sri Lankan Tamil Politics, Sri Lankan Tamil Society, Tamil Sri Lankans, Muttiah Muralitharan, Sri Lankan Civil War, Sri Lankan Tamil People, M.i.a., Tamil Eelam, Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, Paravas, List of Tamils of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora, Velupillai Prabhakaran, List of Commanders of the Ltte, Hinduism in Sri Lanka, Origins of the Sri Lankan Civil War, Tamilnet, T. T. Durai, Coast Veddas, Dutch Period in Ceylon, Nadarajah Raviraj, Allegations of State Terrorism by Sri Lanka, Neila Sathyalingam, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Paraiyar, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, Expulsion of Non-Resident Tamils From Colombo, S. Rajaratnam, Padahuthurai Bombing, E. E. C. Thuraisingham, Vaharai Bombing, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, Raj Rajaratnam, British Tamils Forum, 1958 Riots in Ceylon, Rama P. Coomaraswamy, Sri Lankan Mudaliyars, Danny Nalliah, List of Arunthathiyar, Sri Lankan Tamils in India, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Sarathambal, Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Interim Self Governing Authority, Mary Bastian, Shan Ratnam, Riots in Sri Lanka, N. Shanmugathasan, Pre-Modern Coinage in Sri Lanka, Sivasubramaniam Raveendranath, Rajini Thiranagama, Vellala Mudaliar, Gal Oya Riots, History of Eastern Tamils, Rukmani Devi, J. P. Chandrababu, Raadhika Sarathkumar, Chettiar, Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, Negombo Tamils, Duraiappa Stadium Mass Grave, T. Maheswaran, Cuisine of Sri Lanka, Elara, Vaithilingam Sornalingam, Sri Lankan Tamil Dialects, Suresh Joachim, Ananda Krishnan, Uthayan, Mukkuvar, V. Manicavasagar, Thiruchelvam Nihal Jim Brown, Kumar Ponnambalam, Anton Muttukumaru, Kamahl, Sri Lankan State Sponsored Colonisation Schemes, Anton Balasingham, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Karaiyar, Murugesapillai Koneswary, Shanmugalingam Sivashankar, Loan Words in Sri Lankan Tamil, Vannimai, Allegations of Mass Graves at Chemmani, Nalliah Kumaraguruparan, Chandran Rutnam, M. X. Karun...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=225283 ... Read more

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Chapters: Marmite, Cinema of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Moors, Sri Lankan Place Name Etymology, Architecture of Ancient Sri Lanka, Snake Charming, Sri Lankan Australian, Culture of Sri Lanka, Dances of Sri Lanka, Kandyan Dance, List of Sri Lankan Films, Sinhala and Tamil New Year, Cuisine of Sri Lanka, Esala Perahera, Saman, Diyawadana Nilame, Royal-Thomian Rivalry, Sandakada Pahana, Dighavapi, Sri Lankan Tamil Dramas, Theatre of Sri Lanka, Baddaginnie, Victoria, Diyasena, Demala Diviyan Keliya, Karaoke Clubs in Sri Lanka, Kolomba Sanniya, Poruwa Ceremony, Hat Diviyan Keliya, Jallywood, Gender Roles in Sri Lanka, Aluth Sahal Mangallaya, Cultural Triangle. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 156. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Sri Lankan cinema encompasses the films made in Sri Lanka . It is a fledgling industry that has struggled to find a footing since its inauguration in 1947 with Kadawunu Poronduwa. Sri Lankan films are usually made in the Sinhalese language. In the first nine years most films were made in South India and followed the conventions of Indian cinema. Rekava, made in 1956 by pioneer director Lester James Peries, was the first Sinhala film to be shot completely out of studio and contain a truly Sinhalese storyline. Though acclaimed by local and international critics, the film failed to find an audience in the country and was a box office failure. Films continued to follow formulaic storylines borrowed from India up through the early 60s despite such efforts as Sandesaya and Kurulu Bedda. In 1964, Lester James Peries again contributed to the development of Sri Lankan cinema with Gamperaliya which was the first Sinhala film to feature no songs and like Rekava shot completely outside the studio. It garnered massive praise for portraying Sinhala culture in a realistic manner ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=5181858 ... Read more

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Chapters: Hinduism in Sri Lanka, Cuisine of Sri Lanka, Uthayan, Sinhalisation, Sudar Oli, Puttu, Shakthi Tv, Village Deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka, Virakesari, Thinakkural, Tamil Guardian. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 51. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Part of a series onHinduism Hindus currently make up more than 15% of the Sri Lankan population, and are almost exclusively Tamils apart from small immigrant communities from India and Pakistan such as the Sindhis, Telugus, Kannadigas and Malayalees. In the 1915 census they made up almost 25% of the population, which included the indentured labourers the British had brought. Due to assimilation, emigration (over 1 million Sri Lankan tamils have left the country since independence) and conversion to various sects of Christianity and Buddhism, today they are a smaller and still dwindling minority. Hinduism is dominant in the Northeastern province, where there is a significant number of Tamil people. Hinduism is also practiced in the central regions (where there are significant numbers of people of Indian Tamil descent) as well as in the capital, Colombo. According to the government census of 2001, there are about 1,500,000 Hindus in Sri Lanka (including estimates for the districts in Northern and Eastern Provinces, in which the census was not carried out). According to legend, Sri Lanka was formed when sage Narada persuaded the God of Wind and Air, Vayu, to humble his close friend, Mount Meru (a huge mountain where the Gods lived). Vayu then blew strong winds at the mountain for a year, which was shielded by the Garuda, a mythical bird. When the Garuda took respite for a while however, Vayu caused part of the apex of the mountain to fall into the sea, forming the island of Sri Lanka. The first major Hindu reference to Sri Lanka...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2742162 ... Read more

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In no country in the world has film development through State enterprise been an enormous success as in Sri Lanka.That experience provides a unique lesson to the whole world. In a short span of seven years, annual film attendance doubled to 74.4 million and the screen time for national cinema trebled to 58%. In this distinctive experience, Sri Lanka achieved what national cinemas the world over dream about and yearn for.

That achievement could not be sustained, however. It was eventually squandered, with attendance falling to a mere annual 12 million as the State enterprise which achieved what was a profitable success, spent its way to virtual bankruptcy.

The Sri Lankan experience is at once an object lesson in how film development and State enterprise can succeed, massively so. It is also story of how and why such an accomplishment could not be preserved and improved upon and why it eventually failed so wretchedly.

That story, hitherto untold, is of relevance to film buffs and Governments struggling to develop their film industries. The experience is also of direct relevance to State enterprise and Public Organization students the world over.

The tale is one of clash of private and public enterprise, the dominance of mainstream and the formula film; the tension between film art and business, the national cinema against the foreign, the producers verses the exhibitors.Nihalsingha takes the reader beyond the glamour of production into the hitherto untouched backrooms of the behind-the-scenes work that makes film possible as an art and as an industry: film distribution, exhibition and imports in an Asian country.This focus is all the more important when these facets remain submerged as discourse on film-as-art dominates the terrain. ... Read more