Description
Focusing on notions of diaspora, identity and agency, this book examines ethnicity in war-torn Sri Lanka. It highlights the historical development and negotiation of a new identification of Up-country Tamil amidst Sri Lanka's violent ethnic politics.
Over the past thirty years, Up-country (Indian) Tamils generally have tried to secure their vision of living within a multi-ethnic Sri Lanka, not within Tamil Eelam, the separatist dream that ended with the civil war in 2009. Exploring Sri Lanka within the deep history of colonial-era South Asian plantation diasporas, the book argues Up-country Tamils form a "diaspora next-door" to their ancestral homeland. It moves beyond simplistic Sinhala-Tamil binaries and shows how Sri Lanka's ethnic troubles actually have more in common with similar battles that diasporic Indians have faced in Fiji and Trinidad than with Hindu-Muslim communalism in neighbouring India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Shedding new light on issues of agency, citizenship, displacement and re-placement within the formation of diasporic communities and identities, this book demonstrates the ways that culture workers, including politicians, trade union leaders, academics and NGO workers, have facilitated the development of a new identity as Up-country Tamil. It is of interest to academics working in the fields of modern South Asia, diaspora, violence, post-conflict nations, religion and ethnicity.
About the Author
Daniel Bass teaches Anthropology and International Studies at Fairfield University, USA. His research interests include ethnicity, religion, globalization, migration, labor, and popular culture among Tamils in Sri Lanka, India and the diaspora. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on Up-country Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Reviews
"Daniel Bass makes a welcome contribution to the scholarship on Sri Lanka with a thorough ethnographic study of an oft-neglected community...All in all, Bass' solid ethnography will be of interest to scholars of (South Asian) diaspora, as well as to Sri Lanka specialists who wish to strengthen their knowledge on this under-represented community." - Pacific Affairs: Volume 86, No. 4 - December 2013 - University of Zurich, Bart Klem
"[...] Everyday Ethnicity in Sri Lanka, is an informative and necessary contribution to Sri Lankan plantation studies and a must-read for those studying migration, labor, and ethnicity in contemporary South Asia. By presenting the dominant discourses of Up-Country Tamil ethnicity, agency, and identity-formation, Bass opens the door for plantation studies to go beyond the borders of the plantation and forces readers to reimagine the concept of diaspora and acknowledge the unevenness of place-making and identity-formation in Sri Lanka."
Mythri Jegathesan, Asian Ethnology
Book Information
ISBN 9781138086531
Author Daniel Bass
Format Paperback
Page Count 230
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 362g