This essay by Gananath obeyesekere that appeared in Sri Lanka in Change and Crisis(Ed.James Manor, 1984) is a close investigation into post 1977 political realities, the implications of which have much to do with present impasse that Sri Lankan society seems to be in. Gananath obeyesekere, the greatest anthropologist produced by Sri Lanka was born…
From Gananath Obeyesekere
Kandyan Cosmopolitanism: Lessons for Our Time (Video) – Gananath Obeyesekere
Sri Lankan scholars and the Buddhist public generally believe that Portuguese influence after 1506 was characterized by a long period of Catholic proselytization and religious intolerance in the maritime regions of the island. What is little known is that by contrast, the kingdom of Kandy in the central region under the rule of King Vimaladhramasuriya…
Sovereignty, Port City & The Dalai Lama – Gananath Obeyesekere
Several weeks ago I had the privilege of attending a conference organized by colleagues in the University of Delhi and presided by His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso, the Fourteenth Dalai Lama. The conference itself was on how children’s secular education could be transformed in order to bring in values of compassion and caring sorely lacking in…
Gananath Obeysekere on Ethics, Secularism and Institutions of Governance
The International Centre for Ethnic Studies and the Centre for Poverty Analysis conducted a roundtable discussion on “Ethics, Secularism, and Institutions of Governance” at the ICES Auditorium on November 27, 2013. The participants were: Professor Charles Taylor best known for his contributions to political philosophy, the philosophy of social science, and intellectual history, Professor Rajiv Bhargava Senior Fellow, Director at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, and a noted Indian political theorist, widely recognized for his works on political theory , multiculturalism, identiry politics, and secularism. Prof. Gananath Obeysekere, Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, Princeton University, responded…
