Building the Tamil Eelam State: emerging state institutions and forms of governance in LTTE-controlled areas in Sri Lanka

Stokke, Kristian

doi:10.1080/01436590600850434

Cited by 131 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…On the one hand was the Sri Lankan state formation, which can be described as a consolidated electoral democracy, but is also characterised by majoritarianism within a unitary and centralised constitution and illiberal political practices that include ethnic constitution of demos, elitist incorporation of people and ethnic outbidding (de Votta 2004). On the other hand was the emerging state formation within LTTE-controlled areas, where LTTE has demonstrated an ability to govern but doing so by way of authoritarian centralisation with few mechanisms for democratic representation (Stokke 2006). This points to a dual need for political transformations towards rights-based democratisation, but this turned out to be too complicated and contentious to be handled in the peace process.…”

Section: Democratization In Sri Lankamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Ceasefi re Agreement on 22 February 2002 froze this military-territorial balance of power and segmented a de facto dual state structure (Shanmugaratnam 2008). In this context, the LTTE followed a strategy of institutionalising power sharing by building separate state institutions within the areas under their control and thereby producing a pretext for internal or external self-determination based on earned sovereignty (Stokke 2006(Stokke , 2007. In this sense, LTTE utilised the 'no war/no peace' situation created by the CFA to pursue their strategic interests, making the peace process an extension of war by other means.…”

Section: Political Transformation Of Lttementioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Conflict Resolution and Democratisation in the Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami: A Comparative Study of Aceh and Sri Lanka

Stokke

Törnquist

Sindre

2017

Power, Conflict and Democracy Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra on 26 December 2004 unleashed a tsunami in the Indian Ocean that affected more than a dozen countries throughout South and Southeast Asia and stretched as far as the northeastern coast of Africa. The two worst affected areas - North-East Sri Lanka and the Aceh region in Indonesia - have both been marked by protracted intra-state armed conflicts. In the immediate aftermath of the tsunami, international journalists and humanitarian actors argued that the disaster could actually constitute and opportunity for conflict resolution, as the scale and urgency of humanitarian needs should bring the protagonists together in joint efforts for relief, reconstruction and conflict resolution. In contrast, research on the impacts of natural disasters often concludes that disasters tend to deepen rather than resolve conflicts. Four years after the tsunami it can be observed that Aceh and North-East Sri Lanka have followed highly divergent trajectories. In Aceh, a Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of Indonesia and Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM) was signed shortly after the tsunami and has been followed by peace and a process od political integration into Indonesian democracy. In Sri Lanka, the tsunami created a humanitarian pause from the gradual escalation of hostilities and an attempt to create a joint mechanism between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for handling humanitarian aid, but Sri Lanka has since the returned to full-scale warfare between the GOSL and LTTE. This brief article, which is based on work in progress, will highlight some key lessons and preliminary conclusions for each of these research quetions: (1) How and to what extent has reconstruction/development been linked to processes of conflict resolution and rights based democratization?; (2) How and to what extent has a process of rights based democratization been related to the parallel processes of revonstruction/development and conflict resolution?; (3) How and to what extent have the parallel processes of reconstruction/development, conflict resolution and democratization generated political transformations of the armed insurgency movements?

show abstract

Section: Democratization In Sri Lankamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Political Transformation Of Lttementioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict Resolution and Democratisation in the Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami: A Comparative Study of Aceh and Sri Lanka

Stokke

Törnquist

Sindre

2017

Power, Conflict and Democracy Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The anticipated peace dividend and international aid were also expected to deliver development and political legitimacy for the government within the Sinhalese majority. The LTTE followed a strategy of institutionalising power sharing by building separate state institutions within areas under its control and thereby produce a pretext for internal or external self-determination based on earned sovereignty (Nadarajah and Vimalarajah, 2008;Stokke, 2006Stokke, , 2007. In this sense, both protagonists used the 'no war/no peace' situation that was created by the ceasefire agreement to pursue their strategic interests, making the peace process an extension of war by other means.…”

Section: The Soft Power Of Facilitation and The Politics Of State Refmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Soft Power of a Small State: Discursive Constructions and Institutional Practices of Norway's Peace Engagement

Stokke

2017

Power, Conflict and Democracy Journal

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Instead, Western policing worked outside formal legal mechanisms, using the threat of legal action to pressure Tamil diaspora groups into eschewing separatism and the LTTE, and instead supporting the Sri Lankan government's devolution talks with Tamil political parties. 76 The stalling of Sri Lanka's military campaign and related expansion of the LTTE into a "de facto" state in areas under its control 77 necessitated a change in strategy. The result was the West-backed Norwegian peace initiative from 2000, centred on negotiations with the LTTE, rather than with "moderate" Tamil parties (which also united in endorsing the "extremist" LTTE as representing Tamils' interests in talks).…”

Section: Proscriptions During Sri Lanka's Warmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Tamil Proscriptions: Identities, Legitimacies, and Situated Practices

Nadarajah

2018

Terrorism and Political Violence

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Conventional analyses of terrorism proscription rely on conceptions of policy in terms of bureaucratic institutions and processes functioning according to means-end rationality, and law as an institutionalised body of rules expressive of sovereign power. By contrast, this article argues that the workings of Western terrorism proscription are inseparable from and deeply conditioned by situated interpretations of the contexts and dynamics within which West-led interventions for global stability-equated with liberal order-are pursued. Predicated on a seemingly self-evident division between "liberal" conduct, actors, and practices and illiberal ones which threaten the former, the production of good order requires the strengthening of the former, and the disciplining, transformation, or destruction of the latter. However, categorisations as "liberal" or "non-liberal" are not derived from "objective" criteria, but always mutually dependent on the situated interpretations by (self-recognised) liberals of the contexts within which they are intervening. Taking an interpretive approach that treats state action as situated practice, the article traces Western states' security engagement with Sri Lanka before, during, and after the armed conflict ) to show how changing calculations for liberal peace there governed evolving proscription practices in relation to the LTTE and the Tamil diaspora.

show abstract

Building the Tamil Eelam State: emerging state institutions and forms of governance in LTTE-controlled areas in Sri Lanka

Cited by 131 publications

References 14 publications

Conflict Resolution and Democratisation in the Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami: A Comparative Study of Aceh and Sri Lanka

Conflict Resolution and Democratisation in the Aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami: A Comparative Study of Aceh and Sri Lanka

The Soft Power of a Small State: Discursive Constructions and Institutional Practices of Norway's Peace Engagement

The Tamil Proscriptions: Identities, Legitimacies, and Situated Practices

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About