BOOKS

Sustaining a state in conflict: Politics of foreign aid in Sri Lanka, Colombo:ICES, (2018)
This study focuses on politics of foreign aid to Sri Lanka from developed countries of the West, Japan and multilateral agencies during the period 1977 to end of the armed conflict in 2009. This period is characterised by economic policies that emphasised liberal economic policies and an armed conflict resulting from the Tamil demand for a separate state. The study looks at politics of foreign aid in this context. Foreign aid played a dual role. It helped to sustain a state engaged in an armed conflict, while at the same time trying to promote a negotiated settlement. Therefore it was neither a do-gooder that liberals tend to believe nor a 'foreign devil that Sinhala nationalists like to see.

The politics of foreign Aid in Sri Lanka
(2007) Politics of foreign aid in Sri Lanka, Promoting markets and supporting peace. Colombo: International Centre for Ethnic Studies.

Devolution and Development in Sri Lanka
(1994) Editor, Devolution and Development. New Delhi: Konark Publishers.

Can democracy be designed?
(2003) Co-editor, Can Democracy be Designed? London: Zed Books.

ARTICLES

Sri Lanka Ideological battles (2018)
One of the key features of post 1977 political economy of Sri Lanka was development of a political consensus among political elite on economic policies as well as how to deal with the war. The main turning point was PA government after coming to power in 1994 shifting the ideology of centre-left parties accept neoliberal direction in capitalist transition and direct negotiations with LTTE supported by international mediation. After coming into power of Rajapakse regime this consensus changed both in relations policies of capitalist transition and how to deal with the war. With regime change in 2015 there is another shift. These ideological battles are bound to characterise Sri Lanka's capitalist transition and state formation process.

Some thoughts on the current global context
Global context interpreted as a world of global capitalism and major power conflicts. Brief comment on implications for the Sri Lankan state.

(2009) Politics of Social Exclusion, State Reform and Security in Sri Lanka.
The debate on security in Sri Lanka is dominated by the traditional discourse of the security of the state. Primacy is given to the question of how to ensure state security from internal as well as external threats. Notions such as human security have had very little impact on mainstream debates on security.

Reflections on economic inequality in Sri Lanka
How to understand economic inequality in Sri Lankan at present

BLOG

Post-war capitalism
A key issue in understanding the political economy of contemporary Sri Lanka is how we characterise the period after the military defeat of the LTTE in May 2009. I would call it 'post-war' rather than 'post-conflict'. A better way is to look at what happened in May 2009 as a point of historical transition, where there is a continuity and discontinuity with the preceding period. Probably we have seen an end to the period of violent challenges to the state that began in the early seventies.

Post 2015 Presidential Election-Some thoughts
An analysis of policy implications in the aftermath of the 2015 Presidential Election. The author argues aginst reductionist approaches that look for 'one big answer' to the problems faced by Sri Lanka. The article points out the need to focus on three areas of policy - strengthening the plural character of Sri Lanka, building the autonomy of the state, and an economic policy that integrates social dimensions into the growth strategy.