James Edition Since colonisation of Ceylon by the British, we had two systems: the native social system with strong cultural and religious orientation and the colonial system with British cultural (including educational),…
Professor Gananath Obeyesekere was an excellent teacher, researcher and scholar as well as an excellent communicator mainly in English. Although born and raised in an urbane middle class family and educated in…
newswire The NPP government came to power with an ambitious aim of changing the existing system that was broken and did not serve the interests of many, especially the under privileged sections…
The parliamentary election on November 14 is going to be like no other in Sri Lanka’s post independence history. Like the presidential election held on September 21, it will be another ground…
During this campaign year there are various discourses by political parties and alliances about how to develop the country or bring development in order to address the current problems faced by the…
Anura Kumara Dissanayake, AKD as popularly known, is currently leading National People Power (NPP) movement for a system change and social renewal from the bottom up including economic, political, cultural and ideological…
As we mark another independence day celebrating the transfer of power from the British colonial government to Ceylonese rulers, it is important to reflect on the situation that existed before, the impact…
With British colonisation, the freedom that the royalty and the radala nobility had to rein over the subjects was lost. They were displaced and replaced by the colonial rulers who expressed allegiance…
Middle class consciousness, non-involvement in politics The middle class consciousness of graduates who were able to climb the social ladder (we call it social mobility in sociology) was shaped by the modernist…
A recent article published on Groundviews by Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda titled Re-inventing the idea of University: Some Reflections and Proposals deserves wider attention. Given the fact that the university education sector has…
In the precolonial period of country’s long history, much of organised life was impacted from inter kingdom wars, natural events, harsh climate, hierarchical attitude and behaviour of provincial rulers, and the demands…
Sri Lanka is passing through a turbulent time in terms of its economy, society, governance, community cohesion, cultural spirit and ethos. After the political and social upheaval generated by the lack of…
Photo by Ishara S.KODIKARA/AFP/Getty Images via The Baltimore Sun The talks of establishing a national government, among other things, highlight the underlying unity of the ruling class in Sri Lanka. Irrespective of party…
Photo via Transparency International There is renewed interest and concern among various quarters of Sri Lankan society about the need for a more effective system of preventing, investigating and curbing corrupt activities…
Photo via Sky News Normally, a newly elected President has a honeymoon period within which he/she has some breathing space after a hectic election campaign conducted under extremely stressful and challenging circumstances….
