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Sri Lanka has suffered from decades of ethnic strife which has left in its wake a failure of governing arrangements, skewed distribution of economic benefits, and an exploitation of cultural traditions to divide people. Hence, argue the contributors to this volume, the time is now ripe for the people of Sri Lanka to consciously take up the task of building a new society.
At the same time, there is no readymade model that can be applied to Sri Lanka. Instead, this volume explores three elements which are crucial to the process of social reconstruction: a realistic analysis of novel problems, a search for guiding principles and a testing of procedures. In this framework, the essays in the first two parts of the volume discuss a wide variety of broad issues including the failure of Sri Lanka to create an inclusive nation-state, and the mutual exclusiveness of the two major communities exacerbated by their internal divisions.
The chapters in the subsequent sections present detailed case studies which illumine the potential for creating both a better society and a better life.
Table of Contents
Foreword by PITMAN B POTTER
Introduction
I. THE CHALLENGE OF SOCIETAL REORGANIZATION: Overwhelming Change and Faltering Institutions, 1948-2002 BARRIE M MORRISON
II. TENSIONS OF CLASS, CASTE, GROUP RIGHTS AND INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS: Religious and Ideologies Intransigence among the Sinhalese BRUCE MATTHEWS
Religious Ideology among the Tamils DAGMAR HELLMANN-RAJANAYAGAM
Tightening Social Cohesion and Excluding ?Others? among the Sinhalese BRUCE MATTHEWS
From Differences to Ethnic Solidarity among the Tamils DAGMAR HELLMANN-RAJANAYAGAM
The Rise of Militant Tamil Nationalism, Its Assumptions and the Cultural Production of Tamil Women SIVAMOHAN SUMATHY
III. THE STRUGGLE TO BUILD A BETTER LIFE, A BETTER SOCIETY: Struggling to Create Self-Help Organizations in an Urban Slum: Mahaiyawa SRI RANJITH
Expanding World Demand for Gems: The Old Poor and the New Rich in Ratnapura KARUNATISSA ATUKORALA
Bonded Tea Estate Workers: Still Waiting at the Gates M SINNATHAMBY
Satyodaya, NGOs and Civil Society: Mobilizing across Class and Community in a Globalizing Economy PAUL CASPERSZ
IV. BUILDING A BETTER SOCIETY? LARGE PROBLEMS WITH WEAKENED CAPACITY: Justice for the Dispossessed: The Case of a Forgotten Minority in Sri Lanka?s Ethnic Conflict S H HASBULLAH
Who Will Care for Those Left at Home? The Effect of New Opportunities for Work on Families in Sri Lanka NANCY WAXLER-MORRISON
Damming the Flood of Violence and Shoring up Civil Society in an Era of Globalization SISIRA PINNAWALA
Conclusion
IndexISBN - 9780761932215
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Pages : 296
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