In the path of heroes: second-generation Tamil-Canadians after the LTTE

Diasporic mobilization and post-war uplift: an inquiry into the global Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora's influence in post-war Sri Lanka

“…As the cries of the Tamils in Sri Lanka were being forcibly silenced, while the international community took the position of the bystander, and the Rajapaksa administration attempted to annihilate the Tamil consciousness in its entirety, diasporic Tamil voices garnered worldwide attention by taking to the streets (CBC News, 2009). Second-generation Tamils, many of whom were members of Tamil Student Associations at post-secondary institutions, had a large role in the organization and success of the protests in Toronto and London (O'Neill, 2015).…”

“…Within Sriskandarajah's (2014) Canadian study, second-generation Tamil participants expressed that they could not separate their Canadian identity from this Tamil identity, as both function to produce feelings of belongingness to both the dominant society and within the diasporic realm of host countries. O'Neill (2015) explains that participants who display a hybrid identity can revise their cultural heritage to facilitate the adaptation process to the transnational location and its material conditions by collectively and individually testing cultural norms within this given space. Ultimately, second-generation youth are provided with "accumulated heritage" by their ethnic communities in which manufacture social and cultural reproduction that yield generational change between second-generation youth and their parents.…”

Hybridity and integration: a look at the second-generation of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora in Toronto

“…They therefore emphasized the term "Sri Lankan Tamil" in their self-identification. However, this assertion of "Sri Lankan-ness" was unsuccessful; the over 30 year-long civil war (O'Neill, 2015) claimed the lives of numerous Tamil people and resulted in the fleeing of many other Tamil civilians to other countries such as Malaysia, Germany, England and Canada.…”

“…Canada began to receive Tamil migrants from Sri Lanka in 1983 after a mass exodus that followed extreme violence and murders of Tamil civilians in what is now known as "Black July" (O'Neill, 2015). For the most part of the 1990's, Sri Lanka quickly rose to become one of the top five source countries for immigration to Canada (Thurairajah, 2011).…”

Philanthropy, Remittances and Identity: The Case of London-based Sri Lankans

“…This, in turn, raises the vexed question of ‘identity’ and the degree to which transfers (including acts of charity) can be seen as an expression of identity. A common element in much of the literature on the Sri Lankan diaspora, especially the Tamil diaspora, is the changing nature of Tamil identity and its relationship to wider issues such as globalisation, transnational identities, an ‘identity crisis’ following the defeat of the LTTE and ways in which individuals have to deal with ‘multiple identities’ (Brun and van Hear 2012; George 2011; Hess and Korf 2014; O’Neill 2014; Orjuela 2008; Ratnapalan 2014). In terms of this approach, charitable acts and the changing landscape of charitable donations—indeed, any sort of transaction—become both a manifestation and constitutive of such identities.…”