Sri Lanka, Challenges of the New Millennium


Book Description

Articles predomiantly on economic development, poverty, environmental degradation, and ethnic conflict.




Postcolonial Literature and Challenges for the New Millennium


Book Description

This volume brings together an international range of postcolonial scholars to explore four distinct themes which are inherently interconnected within the globalised landscape of the early 21st century: China, Islamic fundamentalism, civil war and environmentalism. Through close-reading a range of literary texts by writers drawn from across the globe, these essays seek to emphasise the importance of literary aesthetics in situating the theoretical underpinnings and political motivations of postcolonial studies in the new millennium. Colonial legacies, especially in terms of structuring exploitative capitalist relations between countries and regions are shown to persist in postcolonial nations in the form of ‘global civil wars’ and systemic environmental waste. Chinese authoritarianism and the Indian picturesque represent less familiar forms of neo-colonialism. These essays not only engage with established writers such as Salman Rushdie and Anita Desai; they also critically reflect on work by Nadeem Aslam, Mai Couto, Romesh Gunesekara, Bei Dao and Ma Jian. This book was originally published as a special issue of Textual Practice.




The Separatist Conflict in Sri Lanka


Book Description

The book provides a detailed historically-based analysis of the origin, evolution and potential resolution of the civil conflict in Sri Lanka over the struggle to establish a separate state in its Northern and Eastern provinces. This conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is one of the world’s most intractable contemporary armed struggles. The internationally banned LTTE is considered the prototype of modern terrorism. It is known to have introduced suicide bombing to the world, and recently became the first terrorist organization ever to acquire an air force. The ‘iron law of ethnicity’ – the assumption that cultural difference inevitably leads to conflict – has been reinforced by the 9/11 attacks and conflicts like the one in Sri Lanka. However, the connections among ethnic difference, conflict, and terrorism are not automatic. This book broadens the discourse on the separatist conflict in Sri Lanka by moving beyond the familiar bipolar Sinhala versus Tamil ethnic antagonism to show how the form and content of ethnicity are shaped by historical social forces. It develops a multipolar analysis which takes into account diverse ethnic groups, intra-ethnic, social class, caste and other variables at the local, regional and international levels. Overall, this book presents a conceptual framework useful for comparative global conflict analysis and resolution, shedding light on a host of complex issues such as terrorism, civil society, diasporas, international intervention and secessionism.




Sri Lanka At Crossroads: Geopolitical Challenges And National Interests


Book Description

Having celebrated its 70th year of independence in 2018, Sri Lanka, a strategically-positioned island nation, now finds itself with the potential to be a super connector in fast-developing Asia. While carving out a place for itself in the international arena, Sri Lanka has simultaneously had to look inwards to recover and rebuild its potential, bruised by an era of colonial rule and nearly 30 years of a civil war, with two youth insurrections.This book examines these twin dimensions. First, how Sri Lanka is negotiating its international reach and the spheres of influence that extend from other Asian and world powers, and second, how the country is engaging in nation-building, from days of racial riots to ones of peace-building, reconciliation, more robust governance, and the development of cyber security.Written from the perspective of a Sri Lankan academic and the head of the national security think tank, this book offers insights into how the country has addressed its post-conflict as well as geopolitical challenges, navigated through domestic politics, and ramped up peace-building efforts, to now reach a junction where it can put its foot firmly on the road to prosperity in a new Asian world order.







An Uneasy Hegemony


Book Description

It departs from the scholarship produced on Sri Lanka, and re-introduces the neo-Marxist approaches through the works of Antonio Gramsci.







The Sri Lanka Reader


Book Description

Fifty-four images and more than ninety classic and contemporary texts introduce Sri Lankas recorded history of more than two and a half millennia.




Women's Challenges of the New Millennium


Book Description

The main thrust of the theme is on several socio-economic problems being faced by the women. The economic parameters, their health and educational problems, rape laws and justice, globalisation and women's question in India, women in decision-making and women's movement in India have been meticulously discussed in this work. The book contains sixteen chapters, divided into three sections.




Examining International Land Use Policies, Changes, and Conflicts


Book Description

Though conflicts continue to arise over land use and land cover changes, the conversion of forest land to cropland or other land uses such as housing and urban development have been on the rise in recent years. Decisions regarding land use and land cover influence climate change as well as various natural processes. While proper changes can minimize the effects and speed of climatic changes, the continued adverse changes may be accelerating the deterioration of the world’s condition. Examining International Land Use Policies, Changes, and Conflicts presents the latest research on the present status of land use and land cover changes throughout the world in order to determine appropriate land use policies that can protect earth’s present and future condition. The findings of the studies investigate the conflicts behind the land tenure and land uses in different countries of the world and examines existing policies and the reasons behind changes in them. Ultimately, the book provides readers with knowledge on how land can be managed in a sustained manner, how landscape models are helpful for predicting and determining future land uses, how land can be managed with the best architectural measures, and how urban forestry is helpful for better environmental management and adapting or mitigating climate change effects. Land users, agriculturalists, urban planners, policymakers, government officials, researchers, academicians, and students looking to improve their understanding of this topic for better use of land in the future will find this book to be an asset to their current research.