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 o...