Periodization in Sri Lankan History:
Some Reflections with Special Emphasis on the Development of the State

US $ 10.00

Dr. Gunawardana states “The need for a fresh look at the problem of periodization … stemmed from dissatisfaction with the categories of periodization used in popular text books on Sri Lankan history… Periodization is inevitable and if not explicit, almost always implicit in historical discourse.” This short book by a leading historian reflects on the periodization of Sri Lankan history, with emphasis primarily on the state. Dr. Gunawardana is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka and former Vice-Chancellor of that University.

Finding a Place:
Local integration and protracted displacement in Sri Lanka

US $ 15.00

Displacement because of war means physical dislocation, the separation of people from their everyday practices and their familiar environments, social disruption and material dispossession. Displacement not only affects those who are forced to flee; those left behind and those receiving the displaced people may also experience profound changes in their lives, and may likewise experience feelings of displacement. My research concentrates on those forced to flee, the IDPs, and those receiving the displaced, the hosts. Displacement because of civil war represents profound injustice and is characterised by loss, trauma and marginalisation. However, without romanticising displacement, displacement may also be said to involve innovation; it is a process creating change and new possibilities. This research attempts to analyse displacement in terms of this ‘doubleness’ of marginalization and innovation.

Philip Gunawardena:
The Marking of a Revolutionary

US $ 10.00

Philip Gunawardena (1901-72) has often been called “the father of socialism” in Sri Lanka. A dynamic and fearless fighter for Ceylon’s freedom, Philip was the driving force behind the formation of the country’s first socialist party, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), in 1935. Not so widely known, however, is that Philip Gunawardena was deeply involved in revolutionary politics in the USA and England before he returned to Ceylon in 1932.This study, based on British police reports from the early 1930s that only recently came to light, tells the exciting story of Philip’s formative years abroad.

Next