Sri Lankan society in an era of globalization : struggling to create a new social order

This important volume is premised on the view that complex societies are not a naturally occurring phenomenon but are dynamic social arrangements which require constant re-thinking and redefinition combined with renewed cooperation in order to flourish.

Sri Lanka has suffered from decades of ethnic strife which has left in its wake a failure of governing arrangements, skewed distribution of economic benefits, and an exploitation of cultural traditions to divide people. Hence, argue the contributors to this volume, the time is now ripe for the people of Sri Lanka to consciously take up the task of building a new society.

At the same time, there is no readymade model that can be applied to Sri Lanka. Instead, this volume explores three elements which are crucial to the process of social reconstruction: a realistic analysis of novel problems, a search for guiding principles and a testing of procedures. In this framework, the essays in the first two parts of the volume discuss a wide variety of broad issues including the failure of Sri Lanka to create an inclusive nation-state, and the mutual exclusiveness of the two major communities exacerbated by their internal divisions.

The chapters in the subsequent sections present detailed case studies which illumine the potential for creating both better society and a better life. Among the examples discussed are:

* The basis for social cohesion and cooperation in a Tamil working-class urban neighbourhood The transformations in Sri Lanka's
economy and society brought about by industrial change

* The significant work undertaken by NGOs to encourage cooperation among poor Tamils and Sinhalese

* The problems faced by Muslims displaced by the ethnic violence

* The impact the out-migration of Sri Lankan men and women on family relations and cultural values

Providing numerous valuable insights into the problemn of fashioning a new social cohesion in a multi-ethnic nation against the backdrop of globalization, this volume will be welcomed by sociologists, economists, political scientists and development agencies, and particularly by all those studying Sri Lanka.