Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Sri Lanka

Kanchana N. Ruwanpura is a Professor of Development Geography, the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and an Honorary Fellow at CSAS, at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.Amjad Mohamed Saleem currently works at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, Switzerland.

• List of Illustrations xi List of Contributors xiii Acknowledgements xviii PART I Introduction 1 If I was President 3 Sarah Kabir Slivers of Sri Lanka: Sways, Stability, and System Change? 7 Kanchana N. Ruwanpura and Amjad Mohamed Saleem PART II Nations and Nationalism 31 1 Island Imaginaries: Insularity, Repetition, and the Spatial Politics of the National 33 Tariq Jazeel 2 Authoritarian Politics and Gender in Sri Lanka: A Survey 43 Rajni Gamage 3 Nationalism, Conflict, and Power-Sharing 55 Bart Klem 4 Centring Conflict: Contemporary Sri Lanka in Perspective 68 Shamara Wettimuny PART III Politics, State, and Institutions 81 5 Defining Sri Lanka’s Identity: Reflections on Key Constitutional and the Legal Moments 83 Bhavani Fonseka and Luwie Niranjan Ganeshathasan 6 Imagining the Nation: A Critical Overview of Sinhala Nationalism and Its Cultural Coordinates 94 Harshana Rambukwella 7 Eastern Muslims of Sri Lanka: Developing an Identity Consciousness 106 Aboobacker Rameez and Mohamed Anifa Mohamed Fowsar 8 Transitional Justice: State of Play in Sri Lanka 118 Farah Mihlar 9 Contemporary Gender Activism: Engaging the Law and the State 130 Kaushalya Ariyarathne and Kiran Grewal PART IV Economy and Political Economy 145 10 Sri Lanka’s Foreign Debt Crisis: Deep Roots? 147 Umesh Moramudali 11 The Sri Lankan Economy: Hope, Despair, and Prospects 162 Prema-chandra Athukorala 12 Gender Equality in Sri Lanka’s Economy: Persistent Challenges 176 Dileni Gunewardena 13 Unveiling the Margins: Women, Caste, Class, and Post-War Development in Sri Lanka’s North and East 194 Narayani Sritharan 14 Higher Education in Contemporary Sri Lanka: Key Topics 207 Kaushalya Perera PART V Work and Life 219 15 Informality, Masculinity, and Agglomeration Imaginaries 221 Nipesh Palat Narayanan 16 The Work and Lives of Agricultural Workers 231 Cynthia M. Caron 17 The Gendered Political Economy of Work in Post-War Sri Lanka 242 Jayanthi Thiyaga Lingham 18 Work and Life of Sri Lankan Garment Factory Workers: A Gendered Perspective 253 Shyamain Wickramasingha 19 Microfinance, Debt and Indebtedness of Rural Sector Workers in Sri Lanka 264 Nedha de Silva and Amali Wedagedara PART VI Environment and Environmental Politics 275 20 Following Currents: Oceanic and Littoral Sri Lanka 277 Rapti Siriwardane-de Zoysa 21 A Political Ecology of Sri Lanka’s Urban and Regional Wetlands 288 Missaka Hettiarachchi 22 Sri Lanka’s Energy Transition: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back 300 Gz. MeeNilankco Theiventhran 23 Environmental Protection in Sri Lanka: A Critical Legal Approach 314 Kalana Senaratane 24 Ecological States: Nature, Militarization, and Nationalism in Sri Lanka 325 Vivian Y. Choi 25 Sri Lanka’s Environmental History 335 Sujit Sivasundaram PART VII Society, Social Systems, and Culture 347 26 Public Health System of Sri Lanka: Past, Present, and Future 349 Shashika Bandara 27 Politicizing ‘the Virtual’: Examining the Internet on the Intersections of Gender and Sexuality in Sri Lanka 361 Senel Wanniarachchi and Zahrah Rizwan 28 Feminist Pathways and Political Possibilities in Sri Lankan Plantation Studies 372 Mythri Jegathesan 29 Caste in Contemporary Sri Lanka 383 Dominic Esler 30 Dynamics of Low-Income Settlements in Colombo, Sri Lanka 396 Mohideen M. Alikhan PART VIII Moment of Flux, Looking Ahead 407 31 COVID-19: Sri Lanka’s Moral Test 409 Santhushya Fernando 32 People in the Palace 416 Dinesha Samararatne 33 After Aragalaya: Moving beyond the Status Quo? 420 Oliver Walton 34 Consolidating a Dangerous Consensus: The Failure of Sri Lanka’s Public Policy Complex in 2019 423 Kusum Wijetilleke 35 The ‘Dreary Pillage of Privacy’, Talking Economics in Colombo’s Tower Blocks 430 Michael Collyer Index 434

“Sri Lanka is at the cross-roads on many fronts. The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Sri Lanka comes at as a boon to researchers on these different fronts by identifying issues involved in the many problems that confront Sri Lanka. The problems of Sri Lanka reflect the conditions in many developing countries. It is befuddled with economic crises resulting from inability to service sovereign debts, unresolved ethnic crises fomented by chauvinist leaders, heavy corruption that depletes the national treasury, a political shift towards authoritarianism, environmental depletion, drug problems, pervasive criminal violence and other situations of social disruption. These different areas are covered by leading experts. This superbly written research handbook serves as a tool to study not only Sri Lanka but to compare its problems with other developing states with similar problems. It serves as an introduction to scholars new to the field and as a book that provides fresh insights into different aspects of social and economic life in the island to the established researchers. It will remain the best guide to research on aspects of socio-economic issues in Sri Lanka.”Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah, Emeritus Professor of Law, National University of Singapore “This excellent and important volume brings together a broad range of contemporary scholars in a hard-hitting, multi-disciplinary analysis of Sri Lanka’s current political and economic malaise. Thirty-five original chapters carefully and critically delineate the multiple factors which converged in the 2022 anti-government “struggle” (aragalaya) and its subsequent repression, and cautiously point the way forward to greater political, economic, social and environmental justice in Sri Lanka. This unique collection will be valuable to everyone who wants to understand Sri Lanka’s contemporary situation, and indispensable both to scholars who study it and to policy-makers who attempt to redress it.”Jonathan S. Walters, Professor of Religion and George Hudson Ball Endowed Chair of Humanities, Whitman College, USA “This is a valuable reference book on a country that defies easy readings. Sri Lanka is today in flux navigating political turmoil, environmental degradation, ethnic tensions, and economic hardships due to an unprecedented collapse of the economy. This volume of 35 essays and reflections captures this moment in all its unevenness, shedding light on the ambiguities that lace Sri Lankan society. The book moves from chapters dissecting nationalism, politics, and institutions to more specific topics on the economy and political economy, labour, environmental tensions and social and cultural formations. The contributions are sharp, well researched, theoretically informed and seamlessly connected. While different approaches and positions are represented, they share a commitment to an equitable, just, and ecologically sensitive country to be forged in the future. This is an inspiring volume and a reliable source for anyone interested in Sri Lanka today.”Nira Wickramasinghe, Chair and Professor of Modern South Asian Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands“[This book] describes itself as “a comprehensive survey of issues facing [Sri Lanka].” While it certainly does that, evidenced by the multitude of topics discussed by highly qualified authors, to simply call it a “handbook” is an understatement. The book is not merely “here is Sri Lanka and its issues.” It is an indictment of the mistakes, spanning decades in some cases, that have led Sri Lanka to where it is today. […] The book, spanning many topics, is best suited for readers familiar with the basics of the Sri Lankan context, especially those with a social science, humanities, or political science background. It is strongly critical of colonial influences and the Sinhala-Buddhist, patriarchal status quo in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, it is a summary of academic literature on its various topics, evident in the tendency to cite secondary literature throughout the chapters. […] It is a one-stop shop that provides readers with a clear picture of current academic thinking on a diverse set of topics. From there, they can delve further into the subjects with the rich lists of sources in the references. Considering the dire situation in which Sri Lanka finds itself, it needs its citizens to have greater literacy in its affairs, both past and current. The Routledge Handbook is a fine step in that direction. ”G.A. Abayaratna, University of Colombo Review (Series III), Vol.5, No.2, 2024“Once among the most promising societies in the Global South, Sri Lanka has been beset by daunting problems for decades. Readers interested in social scientific studies describing its current situation will find value in the many contributions on economic, environmental, and health policy in this collection. Essays detailing the sovereign debt crisis, agricultural labor conditions, multiple social inequalities, wetlands governance, health care provision, and urban development are particularly good. Chapters examining politics directly focus on the development of constitutional authority and issues of national and minority identities.”J. C. Hickman, Berry College, USA“Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Sri Lanka offers a timely collection of scholarly contributions with an impressive and wide-ranging focus spanning community life and politics of specific groups to collective imaginaries and transnational concerns, as well as the intangible, conceptual and discursive to the tangible and grounded. In doing so, the Handbook situates itself as an excellent—and perhaps compulsory—reference material for scholars across a wide array of disciplines working on Sri Lanka…The volume also includes chapters that do more than offer a literature survey; they push boundaries and contest dominant beliefs.”Thilini N K Meegaswatta, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geogprahy, 2026