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The main objective of this article is to identify the livelihood changes of the second and third generations of the original settlers in three different types of settlements in System H of the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project (AMDP) in Sri Lanka. Due to changes in local, national and global situations in many spheres and in personal circumstances along with the changing conceptualizations of what constitutes a 'good life', many are forced to seek livelihood options which are different from previous generations. During the last two decades, several factors have affected the settlers, narrowing or constraining choices, presenting challenges to and opportunities for their survival, and forcing them to struggle to secure or change their livelihoods. Today, the different livelihood activities are linked upwards to the macro-level factors within the global economy and downwards to the local economy. The study reveals how the second and third generations negotiate different structures in order to survive and fulfil their aspirations and also how they are capable of tremendous resilience and can adjust to and act upon a wide range of changes. The conclusion drawn is that the AMDP settlers' livelihoods are changing and these changes are no longer specific to the local context but similar to those in other rural areas of Sri Lanka.

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Drawing on findings from research on youths in postwar eastern Sri Lanka, the aim of this chapter is twofold: first, to develop a framework for understanding young people's everyday engagements with politics in the context of the transitions that a postwar setting involves, and second to develop an understanding of young people's political everyday engagement in a context where the state has clearly and quickly moved from a postwar stage to a development stage. The authors find that the different experiences of the violent past and a politicized postwar setting continue to play a role in young people's lives and form a constrained context in which their political engagement is shaped. Unemployment and lack of involvement in ongoing development initiatives by the state exclude Tamil and Muslim youths from political spaces and from having a political voice at the national level. Instead they are enmeshed in societal and spatial power relations in a political environment that impacts negatively on their identity construction and subjectivities.

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