In pursuit of a mythical state of Tamil Eelam: a rejoinder to Kristian Stokke

Sarvananthan, Muttukrishna

doi:10.1080/01436590701507628

Cited by 16 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…By contrast, Sarvananthan (2007) writes "In Pursuit of a Mythical State of Tamil Eelam: a rejoinder to Kristan Stokke" to refute the analysis developed by Stokke. The author criticises Stokke's analysis on the following two main grounds: (a) depending solely on LTTE-related sources for information and data, and (b) representing the LTTE as a "liberation movement" with mass support and commitment to performing state functions.…”

Section: The Ltte War With Statementioning

confidence: 99%

A Bibliographic Survey on State-Minority Contestations in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka

Fazil¹

2019

JPL

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There is an extensive body of literature that delves deeply into the question of how a state is constituted, by examining it from various theoretical and empirical perspectives. Scholars engaged in the field of political science, as well as in other fields such as the social sciences, are constantly endeavouring to explain the myriad ways in which states are formed in different regions of the world. According to one set of academics, the social setup that prevailed in most of the post-colonial states of Asia, Africa, and Latin America was mainly due to the plurality of their multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic, and multi-cultural populations. This plurality had a profound effect on the way the state was formed. A significant volume of literature on Sri Lanka too is available, much of which approaches the question of state formation and reconstitution from the standpoint of ethnicity and nationalism. This survey reviews both the theoretical and empirical literature on state constitution/ formation and pays special attention to three main themes; viz. theories on state constitution (formation), research on post-colonial state formation, and studies about Sri Lankan politics. The state-in-society theory is studied with focus on the crucial question of how state and society transform and constitute one another. This is a qualitative study based on text analysis. A wide selection of existing literature was reviewed. This survey shows that there is a paucity of research work on post-colonial state formation in Sri Lanka and state-minority contestations. It also draws attention to the research gaps in existing literature and the need to explore them further.

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Section: The Ltte War With Statementioning

confidence: 99%

A Bibliographic Survey on State-Minority Contestations in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka

Fazil¹

2019

JPL

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“…These provide interesting insights, but provide only a somewhat speculative basis for making rigorous assessments with regard to some of the key considerations and decisions within the insurgent movement. See also the rather hard-nosed scholarly confrontation between Sarvananthan (2007) and Stokke (2006). of them were politicians, with a strong vested interest in presenting their actions in a positive light.…”

Section: "Fieldwork": Navigating An Arena Of Conflicting and Missing mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation Methodologies for Aid in Conflict

Goodhand¹,

Klem²,

Sørbø³

2013

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“…The war between the central government and the Tamil separatists became manifest in the north and east through competing projects of rule (Fuglerud, 2009; Sarvananthan, 2007; Stokke, 2006; Uyangoda, 2007), or ‘governable orders’ (Korf et al, 2010). Importantly, the rivalry over state institutions, resources and symbols was not a mere side effect of the secessionist war, a tactical civil offshoot of a military confrontation.…”

Section: Sri Lanka: Setting the Stagementioning

confidence: 99%

In the Eye of the Storm: Sri Lanka's Front‐Line Civil Servants in Transition

Klem¹

2012

Development and Change

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This article narrates how bureaucrats in eastern Sri Lanka operated during and after the war. They managed to keep minimal state services running whilst being locked between the government and the insurgent Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). When the government defeated the LTTE in 2009, civil servants were freed from rebel coercion, but they also lost their counterweight against unappreciated policies from the capital and interference by local politicians. The article links the thinking on armed conflicts with the literature that conceptualizes ‘the state’ not as a coherent entity, but as a subject of continuous negotiation. The state's insigne provides a sense of legitimacy and supremacy, but governments have no monopoly on using it. Other powerful actors capture state institutions, resources and discourse for contradictory purposes. This perspective helps us reconcile the appearance of bureaucratic order with the peculiar and hybrid forms of rule that emerged in the war between rebels and government, and it sheds light on some of the surprising changes and continuities that occurred when that war ended. Public administration is neither just a victim of war, nor plainly a victor of the post‐war situation.

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In pursuit of a mythical state of Tamil Eelam: a rejoinder to Kristian Stokke

Cited by 16 publications

References 1 publication

A Bibliographic Survey on State-Minority Contestations in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka

A Bibliographic Survey on State-Minority Contestations in Post-Colonial Sri Lanka

Evaluation Methodologies for Aid in Conflict

In the Eye of the Storm: Sri Lanka's Front‐Line Civil Servants in Transition

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