Interviewed by Saba Mahmood “I think what I said was that actions that only maintain the status quo–to conserve daily life–are not thought of as “making history,” however long such efforts take. And movements which could be branded as “reactionary” were by definition trying “to resist the future” or “to turn the clock back.” The…
Sinhala Histories in Kandy Period : Palm Leaf Manuscripts Known as ‘Vitti Pot’ and ‘Kadaim Pot’, The Address by the Guest of Honour, Gananath Obeyesekere at The Open Univesity Research Sessions 2018.
In Sri Lanka, neoliberal think tanks are profoundly influencing the policy changes and far- reaching reforms underway, including drafting of the new Constitution. I will focus on the two most visible – the Institute for Policy Studies and Advocata Institute – in order to expose the devious and deceitful ways in which MPS is implementing…
“This is certainly not the case: most middle-class people, as well as ordinary villagers whom I know have a strong Sinhalese – Buddhist identity, But they did not engage in violence against Tamils and were for the most part shocked by the brutality and suddenness of these events. It is true that some connived in…
“ An inquiry into the killings is expedited and all state forces brought under democratic forms of governance. As an initial step towards the latter, a process of demilitarization in the north and the east carried out speedily and effectively. Such a process should fall within a broader process of demilitarization in the rest of…
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…
