State Formation and Conflicts in Sri Lanka

Sunil Bastian (Independent Scholar, UK)

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Hardback

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English

Bloomsbury Academic
23 January 2025

Asian history; Politics & government; Central government

This book explores how the history of postcolonial Sri Lanka suggests a new paradigm for understanding state-formation as an ever-shifting and evolving process.

The Sri Lankan state has formed under the pressure of multiple conflicts: around capitalist transition on the one hand, and the deteriorating relationship between the state and Tamil minority populations on the other. Sunil Bastian demonstrates the way these conflicts have overlapped, with international support for the introduction of neoliberal policies – from Japan, the West and institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF – helping to prop up a state engaged in armed ethnic conflict. State Formation and Conflict in Sri Lanka explores the role played by these two forces in the nation’s recent economic crises.

By: Sunil Bastian (Independent Scholar UK)
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781350451827
ISBN 10: 1350451827
Pages: 200
Publication Date: 23 January 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction Chapter 1: British Colonialism and State Formation Chapter 2: Post-Colonial State Formation Chapter 3: From Liberalization of the Economy to Negotiations through International Mediation Chapter 4: Negotiations, their Collapse, and Rajapakse Coming to Power Chapter 5: Post-War State Bibliography

Sunil Bastian is an independent researcher. Bastian's research focuses on the political economy of Sri Lankan conflicts, with a special focus on globalization and foreign aid. He is the co-editor of Can Democracy be Designed? (2003, Zed Books).

Reviews for State Formation and Conflicts in Sri Lanka

In this new book, Sunil Bastian continues his commitment to studying Sri Lanka’s economy, politics and the state through the interpretative lens of political economy. The book thematic focus is the process of state formation in Sri Lanka during the late colonial and post-colonial phases. Building on the premise that states and societies are products of the historical processes that are set in motion by capitalism, Bastian analyses the continuities and ruptures of Sri Lanka’s post-colonial state. The ruptures are caused by the impact of the global capitalism with which Sri Lanka’s society is closely integrated. Sri Lanka’s protracted conflict processes too are structured by capitalism and its discontents. This is a book that has an immediate appeal to a wide range of readers – scholars, students, policy makers and social-political activists. It also makes a significant contribution to the scholarship on the political economy of state formation in non-Western societies that enmeshed with global capitalism. * Jayadeva Uyangoda, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka *