State Formation and Conflicts in Sri Lanka

This book explores how the history of postcolonial Sri Lanka suggests a new paradigm for understanding state-formation as an ever-shifting and evolving process.

The Sri Lankan state has formed under the pressure of multiple conflicts: around capitalist transition on the one hand, and the deteriorating relationship between the state and Tamil minority populations on the other. Sunil Bastian demonstrates the way these conflicts have overlapped, with international support for the introduction of neoliberal policies - from Japan, the West and institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF - helping to prop up a state engaged in armed ethnic conflict. State Formation and Conflict in Sri Lanka explores the role played by these two forces in the nation’s recent economic crises.

Sunil Bastian is an independent researcher. Bastian’s research focuses on the political economy of Sri Lankan conflicts, with a special focus on globalization and foreign aid. He is the co-editor of Can Democracy be Designed? (2003, Zed Books).