Assessing participation - A debate from south asia
(1997) Co-editor, Assessing Participation: A Debate from South Asia. New Delhi: ITDG/Konark Publishers.
Can democracy be designed?
(2003) Co-editor, Can Democracy be Designed? London: Zed Books.
Devolution and Development in Sri Lanka
(1994) Editor, Devolution and Development. New Delhi: Konark Publishers.
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.
Some thoughts on politics of foreign aid
Combining foreign aid as a part of foreign policy of donor countries and state formation process in Sri Lanka
(2010) Contradictions of Capitalism.
Since the end of the war in May 2009, there has been a lot of talk about 'reconciliation and development' in Sri Lanka. Though this is a slogan promoted primarily by the government, many, including the business sector and civil society, have welcomed such rhetoric. This has been buttressed by the support of some donor agencies, whose main agenda has been the promotion of a capitalist economy. There is no doubt that the defeat of the LTTE has created an environment more conducive for positive expectations in the country, nor should one underestimate the importance of this development. After all, it is far better to be in an environment in which politics, rather than the clash of arms, dominates. However, the question remains as to whether Sri Lanka will make use of this opportunity to develop a more just society, or merely to move in a direction that consolidates the structures of social exclusion.
Sri Lankan state in a changing global context
First this article emphasise the need to analyse Sri Lankan state in a global context. Second it looks at the implications for the Sri Lankan state given the current changes globally.
(1997) Development NGOs and Ethnic Conflict, some conceptual challenges. Nethra, Vol.1, No.3, April-June, ICES.
This paper is concerned with the politics of „development NGOs. in the context of a protracted struggle in Sri Lanka for self governance by the Sri Lankan Tamil minority. This is what is meant whenever the term „ethnic conflict. is used in this paper. By „development NGOs. we mean those organisations of the fast growing NGO sector whose primary concern has been production and distribution of resources and social development. Generally these organisations have the objective of improving the lot of the poorer sections of the population through their projects.
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.
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.
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