Collective Violence and Everyday Practice in Sri Lanka

1990 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 603-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Collective Violence ◽  
Current Interest ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Pathology ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Food Riots ◽  
The World ◽  
Clear Link

In July 1983 communal violence in the southern towns of Sri Lanka left between 300 and 3,000 people dead, nearly all of them members of the minority Tamil population. While such a disturbing manifestation of social pathology would seem to demand a response from concerned social scientists, there are special difficulties in confronting such events. Dominant trends in the historical study of popular disturbance, for example the concern to recover the rationality and dignity of participants in food riots (Thompson 1971), or the current interest in manifestations of ‘resistance’, may look altogether inappropriate in this context. Explanation can all too often look like apologetic, and this may explain why much of the existing writing on communal violence in South Asia deals with virtually everything except the violence itself. One recent study in Sri Lanka, Bruce Kapferer's Legends of People, Myths of State (Kapferer 1988), has recently tackled this question head on, arguing that there is a clear link between collective violence in Sri Lanka and what the author describes as a ‘logic of being in the world’, or ‘ontology’ to be found in everyday Sinhala life. While Kapferer has earned our gratitude for even raising the issue of the connection between collective violence and everyday life, his specific argument, as I shall show below, is based on a limited reading of the available evidence.

Prevalence of Suicidal Ideation in Sri Lanka

Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudath Samaraweera ◽  
Athula Sumathipala ◽  
Sisira Siribaddana ◽  
S. Sivayogan ◽  
Dinesh Bhugra
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
General Population ◽  
Suicide Attempts ◽  
National Average ◽  
The West ◽  
Suicide Methods ◽  
Suicide Rates ◽  
Completed Suicide ◽  
The World

Background: Suicidal ideation can often lead to suicide attempts and completed suicide. Studies have shown that Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world but so far no studies have looked at prevalence of suicidal ideation in a general population in Sri Lanka. Aims: We wanted to determine the prevalence of suicidal ideation by randomly selecting six Divisional Secretariats (Dss) out of 17 in one district. This district is known to have higher than national average rates of suicide. Methods: 808 participants were interviewed using Sinhala versions of GHQ-30 and Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation. Of these, 387 (48%) were males, and 421 (52%) were female. Results: On Beck’s Scale for Suicidal Ideation, 29 individuals (4%) had active suicidal ideation and 23 (3%) had passive suicidal ideation. The active suicidal ideators were young, physically ill and had higher levels of helplessness and hopelessness. Conclusions: The prevalence of suicidal ideation in Sri Lanka is lower than reported from the West and yet suicide rates are higher. Further work must explore cultural and religious factors.

Engaging Diaspora in Reconciliation Efforts in Sri Lanka: Lessons Learnt

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-16
Author(s):  
Amjad Mohamed-Saleem
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Trust Building ◽  
Social And Cultural Capital ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Lessons Learnt ◽  
The World ◽  
Conflict Reconciliation ◽  
National Framework

With nearly three million Sri Lankans living overseas, across the world, there is a significant role that can be played by this constituency in post-conflict reconciliation.  This paper will highlight the lessons learnt from a process facilitated by International Alert (IA) and led by the author, working to engage proactively with the diaspora on post-conflict reconciliation in Sri Lanka.  The paper shows that for any sustainable impact, it is also critical that opportunities are provided to diaspora members representing the different communities of the country to interact and develop horizontal relations, whilst also ensuring positive vertical relations with the state. The foundation of such effective engagement strategies is trust-building. Instilling trust and gaining confidence involves the integration of the diaspora into the national framework for development and reconciliation. This will allow them to share their human, social and cultural capital, as well as to foster economic growth by bridging their countries of residence and origin.

The Role of Music and Allied Arts in Public Writings on Cultural Diversity: “People of Sri Lanka”

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Gisa Jähnichen
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Culturally Different ◽  
The World ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
The Way

The Sri Lankan Ministry of National Coexistence, Dialogue, and Official Languages published the work “People of Sri Lanka” in 2017. In this comprehensive publication, 21 invited Sri Lankan scholars introduced 19 different people’s groups to public readers in English, mainly targeted at a growing number of foreign visitors in need of understanding the cultural diversity Sri Lanka has to offer. This paper will observe the presentation of these different groups of people, the role music and allied arts play in this context. Considering the non-scholarly design of the publication, a discussion of the role of music and allied arts has to be supplemented through additional analyses based on sources mentioned by the 21 participating scholars and their fragmented application of available knowledge. In result, this paper might help improve the way facts about groups of people, the way of grouping people, and the way of presenting these groupings are displayed to the world beyond South Asia. This fieldwork and literature guided investigation should also lead to suggestions for ethical principles in teaching and presenting of culturally different music practices within Sri Lanka, thus adding an example for other case studies.

The Great Influenza

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel K. Cohn, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Social Behaviour ◽  
East Coast ◽  
World History ◽  
Collective Violence ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Surgeon General ◽  
The Us ◽  
History Of Disease ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

This chapter examines evidence principally from the US that the Great Influenza provoked profiteering by landlords, undertakers, vendors of fruit, pharmacists, and doctors, but shows that such complaints were rare and confined mostly to large cities on the East Coast. It then investigates anti-social advice and repressive decrees on the part of municipalities, backed by advice from the US Surgeon General and prominent physicians attacking ‘spitters, coughers, and sneezers’, which included state and municipal ordinances against kissing and even ‘big talkers’. It then surveys legislation on compulsory and recommended mask wearing. Yet this chapter finds no protest or collective violence against the diseased victims or any other ‘others’ suspected of disseminating the virus. Despite physicians’ and lawmakers’ encouragement of anti-social behaviour, mass volunteerism and abnegation instead unfolded to an extent never before witnessed in the world history of disease.

Civilization, Religion, Peaceful and Non-Peaceful Change in Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Tin-bor Hui
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Fertile Ground

This chapter seeks to reconcile the seemingly pacifist nature of Eastern religions and civilizations and the reality of terrorism, communal violence, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Asia. All religions promote peaceful change but justify violent change. All civilizations have Gandhi-like advocates for peaceful change but also leaders who agitate for violent change. Civilizational plurality and canonical ambiguity have paradoxically provided a fertile ground for the reduction of complex identities, which are more amenable to peaceful change, into singular ones, which are more prone to civilizational clashes. The weakness of inclusive institutions has further incentivized the politicization of religion. While singular ethnonational identities are constructed and can theoretically be deconstructed, they have tended to become hardened. The chapter anchors the analysis with Islam in Afghanistan and Indonesia; Hinduism in India; Buddhism in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Tibet; and Confucianism in China. It concludes that the rise of self-proclaimed civilization-states in recent years does not bode well for peaceful change.

Effect of Type of Tissue on the Development of Chrysomya rufifacies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in Sri Lanka

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y T B Bambaradeniya ◽  
W A I P Karunaratne ◽  
J K Tomberlin ◽  
P A Magni
Keyword(s):  
Skeletal Muscle ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Forensic Entomology ◽  
Development Time ◽  
Developmental Studies ◽  
Chrysomya Rufifacies ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The World ◽  
Significant Temperature ◽  
Domestic Swine

Abstract Chrysomya rufifacies (Macquart), the hairy maggot blow fly, is of great importance for the field of forensic entomology due to its habit as an early colonizer of decomposing vertebrate remains and myiasis producer. Development studies on this species have been conducted in scattered regions of the world, using types of tissue from several species of animals as a rearing medium. Despite the commonality of C. rufifacies in Sri Lanka, developmental studies have never been performed in this region. As well, the effects of diet on development have not been tested. In the current study, C. rufifacies immatures were reared on skeletal muscle, liver, and heart from domestic swine, with flies from colonies maintained at 25 and 28°C. The minimum time needed to complete each stage at 25°C on liver (224.14 h) was fastest followed by skeletal muscle (249.33 h) and heart (251.64 h) respectively, whereas at 28°C, fly development was quickest on heart muscle (178.27 h) followed by liver (178.50 h) and skeletal muscle (186.17 h) respectively. A significant difference in total development time was determined for temperature, while the rearing medium was not significant. Temperature also showed a significant effect on the length and the width of the larvae, while the type of tissue statistically impacted only the width.

Psychology Within and Without the State

2021 ◽  
Vol 73 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Clark Barrett
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Annual Review ◽  
Publication Date ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The World ◽  
Psychological Similarity

Psychological research in small-scale societies is crucial for what it stands to tell us about human psychological diversity. However, people in these communities, typically Indigenous communities in the global South, have been underrepresented and sometimes misrepresented in psychological research. Here I discuss the promises and pitfalls of psychological research in these communities, reviewing why they have been of interest to social scientists and how cross-cultural comparisons have been used to test psychological hypotheses. I consider factors that may be undertheorized in our research, such as political and economic marginalization, and how these might influence our data and conclusions. I argue that more just and accurate representation of people from small-scale communities around the world will provide us with a fuller picture of human psychological similarity and diversity, and it will help us to better understand how this diversity is shaped by historical and social processes. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 73 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

scholarly journals Social Assessment and Resettlement Policies and Practice in China: Contributions by Michael M Cernea to Development in China

2021 ◽  
pp. 329-344
Author(s):  
Guoqing Shi ◽  
Fangmei Yu ◽  
Chaogang Wang
Keyword(s):  
International Symposium ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Social Assessment ◽  
Research Programs ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The World ◽  
Training Courses ◽  
Academic Conferences

AbstractWe are very pleased to contribute to this volume to express our appreciation for the collaboration with the community of social scientists, sociologists and anthropologists, working at the World Bank. Chinese social scientists joined forces with them on essential activities: development projects, research programs, academic conferences, training courses, and joint books. One of us, Guoqing Shi, has participated in the international symposium in Bieberstein, Germany, where this volume has originated.

scholarly journals Sri Lanka and the Covid 19 Crisis: Strategies and Future Challenges

2020 ◽  
pp. 147-158
Author(s):  
Asantha Senevirathna
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Developing Nations ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Recent Past ◽  
Government Response ◽  
The World ◽  
Future Challenges

 COVID-19 pandemic has become a major crisis in 2020. The pandemic has claimed thousands of lives and is spreading a negative economic impact around the global economy. The pandemic has caused a devastating impact on human life in many of the countries without a clear distinction among developed or developing nations. Sri Lanka is facing the heat of the pandemic gradually since January and has taken various measures to combat the situation. The COVID-19 pandemic forwarded a greater challenge to Sri Lanka since the country has faced various disasters in the recent past and question marks remain about the government’s response. The Sri Lankan government response to the current COVID-19 crisis has been largely successful and is ranked among the best responsive countries in the world. This paper discusses Sri Lanka’s strategies in dealing with COVID-19 pandemic and possible future challenges related to the issue.

scholarly journals Analysing Tuberculosis Trends in South Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 5245
Author(s):  
Kumar Abhishek ◽  
M. P Singh ◽  
Md. Sadik Hussain
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
World Health Organization ◽  
South Asia ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
World Health ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variations ◽  
The World ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
The Relationship

<p>Tuberculosis (TB) has been one of the top ten causes of death in the world. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) around 1.8 million people have died due to tuberculosis in 2015. This paper aims to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in TB incident in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri-Lanka). Asia had been counted for the largest number of new TB cases in 2015. The paper underlines and relates the relationship between various features like gender, age, location, occurrence, and mortality due to TB in these countries for the period 1993-2012.</p>

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