In the wake of war. The political geography of transition in eastern Sri Lanka

Abstract

This dissertation explores the situation in eastern Sri Lanka after the end of the ethno-separatist war. It comprises four articles, which grapple with identity politics, contested state rule, and territorialisation. Taking issue with preponderant, directional understandings of “war-to-peace transitions”, this PhD advocates a non-teleological perspective. It conceives of post-war transition as the re-articulation of the region’s political geography: a recalibration of the way people define themselves, their “other”, and the way they are ruled. This involves dramatic changes in people’s space for manoeuvre, new forms of antagonism, and authority. But there are also many continuous processes and unexpected counter-currents that escape the war-peace cadence