Sri Lanka: Ethnic Fratricide and the Dismantling of Democracy - Hardcover

Tambiah, S. J.; Tambiah, Stanley J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0226789519 ISBN 13: 9780226789514

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 1986

Synopsis

Focusing on the historical events of post-independence Sri Lanka, S. J. Tambiah analyzes the causes of the violent conflict between the majority Sinhalese Buddhists and the minority Tamils. He demonstrates that the crisis is primarily a result of recent societal stresses—educational expansions, linguistic policy, unemployment, uneven income distribution, population movements, contemporary uses of the past as religious and national ideology, and trends toward authoritarianism—rather than age-old racial and religious differences.

"In this concise, informative, lucidly written book, scrupulously documented and well indexed, [Tambiah] trains his dispassionate anthropologist's eye on the tangled roots of an urgent, present-day problem in the passionate hope that enlightenment, understanding, and a generous spirit of compromise may yet be able to prevail."—Merle Rubin, Christian Science Monitor

"An incredibly rich and balanced analysis of the crisis. It is exemplary in highlighting the general complexities of ethnic crises in long-lived societies carrying a burden of historical memories."—Amita Shastri, Journal of Asian Studies

"Tambiah makes an eloquent case for pluralist democracy in a country abundantly endowed with excuses to abandon such an approach to politics."—Donald L. Horowitz, New Republic
"An excellent and thought-provoking book, for anyone who cares about Sri Lanka."—Paul Sieghart, Los Angeles Times Book Review

About this title

About the Author:

S. J. Tambiah is professor of anthropology at Harvard University.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0226789519
• ISBN 13: 9780226789514
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 198