{"id":44457,"date":"2015-06-04T14:09:51","date_gmt":"2015-06-04T21:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=44457"},"modified":"2015-06-04T14:09:51","modified_gmt":"2015-06-04T21:09:51","slug":"pathfinder-foundation-and-the-institute-for-the-study-of-human-rights-of-columbia-university-jointly-launched-identity-politics-and-state-building-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2015\/06\/04\/pathfinder-foundation-and-the-institute-for-the-study-of-human-rights-of-columbia-university-jointly-launched-identity-politics-and-state-building-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Pathfinder Foundation and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights of Columbia University jointly Launched \u2018Identity Politics and State \u2013 Building in Sri Lanka\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gamini Sarath Godakanda<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>The University of Peradeniya, a long standing bedrock of academic discourses in many aspects of Sri Lanka\u2019s development process was the location chosen by the Center for Social Science Studies for the launch of the timely publication of \u2018Identity Politics and State \u2013 Building in Sri Lanka\u2019 edited by Dr. Sisira Pinnawala, Professor of Sociology. This volume has been the outcome of a project titled \u2018Historical Memory as a Tool for Conflict Resolution\u2019 commissioned by the Pathfinder Foundation and the Institute for the Study of Human Rights of Columbia University.<\/p>\n

The objective of this series of studies was engaging scholarly and intellectual participation in the country\u2019s post-conflict peace building and reconciliation effort.<\/p>\n

The participants at the book launch included senior academics from Peradeniya university as well as some students keen to learn about history, politics, economics and conflict resolution in a broader context of peace and reconciliation. The volume, consisting of seven chapters written by seven scholars, was reviewed by Dr. Amarakeerthi Liyanage, Senior Lecturer from the Sinhala Department of the University of Peradeniya. The main thrust of his analysis was that subjects under discussion were highly relevant in the current context of Sri Lanka\u2019s post-conflict need for formulating programs for ethno-religious reconciliation. The volume provides revealing historical insights into the dynamics of collective identity formation and nation building in Sri Lanka. In doing so, it highlights the considerable shared history among all the communities which inhabit this island.<\/p>\n

The three thematic focus areas for the studies were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The nature of the pre-colonial state focusing on state and collective identity formation.<\/li>\n
  2. Identity and political mobilization in the colonial Sri Lanka<\/li>\n
  3. Postcolonial State and nation building in Sri Lanka since 1948: Approaches, Attempts and Challenges.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Contributors to this volume are well known Sri Lankan academics:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Prof. P.V.B. Karunatilaka \u2013 Pre-colonial State and Collective Identities.<\/li>\n
    • Dr. Janaki Jayawardena \u2013 Identity and Political Mobilization in the Colonial Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n
    • Prof. Gamini Keerawella \u2013 Postcolonial State \u2013 Building in Sri Lanka since 1948: Approaches, Attempts and Challenges.<\/li>\n
    • Prof. Sisira Pinnawala and Prof. S. Sathiaseelan \u2013 Evolution of Postcolonial Institutions of Power and Governance and the issue of Political Representation of Minorities.<\/li>\n
    • Dr. S. A.C. Feroziya \u2013 The Muslims and the Postcolonial State \u2013 Building in Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n
    • Dr. O.G. Dayaratne \u2013 Banda \u2013 Identification of Ethnicity with Economic Functions of the Postcolonial State in Sri Lanka.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The book launch was presided over by Dr. Danesh Karunanayake, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Arts.\u00a0 Other participants included Prof. Anura Wickremasinghe, Dean Faculty of Science, Prof. H M D R Herath, Head of Sociology, Rev. Prof. Hanguranketha Dheerananda, Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities, Dr. Ananda Jayawickrema, Dr. O.G. Dayaratne-Banda from the Department of Economics and Dr. Jeewaka Saman Kumara from the Department of Political Science.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Gamini Sarath Godakanda \u00a0The University of Peradeniya, a long standing bedrock of academic discourses in many aspects of Sri Lanka\u2019s development process was the location chosen by the Center for Social Science Studies for the launch of the timely publication of \u2018Identity Politics and State \u2013 Building in Sri Lanka\u2019 edited by Dr. Sisira Pinnawala, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}