The Politics of Foreign Aid
The focus of this article is the politics of foreign aid given by other states to the Sri Lankan state during the post-colonial period. The post-colonial period is an interesting case study…
Author: Sunil Bastian
Election Result – A Particular Understanding
An analysis of the results of the recent presidential election can be approached in different ways with different political purposes. This short piece is based on my interest in conflicts. I am…
Focus on Inequality
Sri Lankans will participate in another presidential election before the end of this year. This election will be held after the country has faced what was probably the worst economic crisis in…
Rethinking the Idea of State Security
This article questions how we understand what is meant by state security. Rethinking what we mean by state security has to start with how we understand the state. The state is usually…
Sri Lanka in the Current Global Context
The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of the major characteristics of the global context today and to point out a key implication for the Sri Lankan state. A…
Reflections on Social Justice and Pluralism
All social science research is done for someone and some purpose. There is no politically neutral social science. The political agenda behind this article is my concern about the fate of the…
The Sri Lankan State in a Changing Global Context
The focus of my recent writings has been the state formation of Sri Lanka. The starting point of this work is to see the state as a product of history that is…
State Formation, the Politics of Capitalist Transition and Conflicts
Given the wars and conflicts that engulfed the world at the end of 2023, peace and conflict studies have become even more important as we welcome 2024. This article is based on…
Some Thoughts on Inequality
This article was prompted by a question I came across during some recent discussions. Does inequality matter? My immediate reaction was to point out that all types of social oppression such as…
State Formation and Contemporary Policy Issues in Sri Lanka
The starting point of the analysis in this article is to question the conventional approach to studying a state. The conventional approach treats the state as a concrete, self-contained entity that has…
The ‘Crisis’ – Another View
The crisis facing Sri Lankan society today is the result of contradictions arising from two processes in the specific Sri Lankan context: efforts to sustain the post-war state and continuing with the…
The International Dimension of Sri Lankan State Formation
Embassy This month the Sri Lankan state celebrates 75 years of independence from British colonialism. This is a good to opportunity to remind ourselves about the link between Sri Lankan state formation…
Reflections on State Formation
This article explains a framework for analysing Sri Lankan state formation and understanding the current challenges that the country is facing. My interest in state formation began when trying to make sense…
Politics of Capitalist Transition and State Repression
Capitalist transition within a state is a process that involves changing institutions or the rules of the game so that markets become the primary mechanism for resource allocation. These changes must be…
Towards a Political Vision with Social Justice and Pluralism
Statfor The post war Sri Lankan state’s inability to fulfil the demands of global finance capital has devastated the lives of millions of Sri Lankans. This is a country where we see…