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Beyond divisive nationalisms in the ‘hybrid island’

Beyond divisive nationalisms in the ‘hybrid island’. Martin Mulligan Globalism Research Centre and Community Sustainability Program of Global Cities Institute. Post-tsunami rebuilding of communities and livelihoods: Post-disaster social recovery.

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Beyond divisive nationalisms in the ‘hybrid island’

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  1. Beyond divisive nationalisms in the ‘hybrid island’ Martin Mulligan Globalism Research Centre and Community Sustainability Program of Global Cities Institute

  2. Post-tsunami rebuilding of communities and livelihoods: Post-disaster social recovery • A spectrum of case study communities: Seenigama (100% Sinhalese); Hambantota (about 50/50 Muslim Tamils and Sinhalese); Thirrukovil (100% Hindu Tamils); Sainthamaruthu (100% Muslim Tamils). • Multi-method methodology with very rich data sets: • -- Social profiles of each community • -- Community life survey (quantitative) • -- Community Member Profiles (qualitative sampling) • -- Strategic interactive interviews (qualitative) • -- Stories of relevant experience (qualitative) RMIT University

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  7. The ‘normalisation’ of violence, conflict and deep division • -- abiding by Sri Lanka in its profound ‘stuckness’ • Changes in Colombo over the last 18 years • The supposed ‘liberation’ of the eastern province • Segregation and despair in the east • The ‘securitisation’ of society (the endless ‘war on terror’) • The centralisation of political and economic power, leading to hard and soft corruption • Understanding the situation in Sainthamaruthu RMIT University

  8. The failed promise of national independence • An elite form of national ‘liberation’ (vis-à-vis India). A failure to create the nation as an ‘imagined community’ • Bandaranaike’s political opportunism and the rise of Sinhalese nationalism • Repeated ‘brinkmanship’ in regard to devolution and the creation of semi-autonomous provinces • The rise of a reactive and extreme form of Tamil nationalism; destruction of the ‘middle ground’ • The tragic misrepresentation of mythology as history RMIT University

  9. Some sources of hope • The fascinating history of a globally connected ‘hybrid society’ , eg, the story of Hambantota • The radical role of historians following in the footsteps of Leslie Gunawardena (‘The People of the Lion’, written in the 1980s); undercutting the narrow mythology of Sinhalese nationalism • A still-robust civil society (although under siege from the present government) • Some truly inspiring civic leaders, eg Kushil Gunasekera (applied Buddhism), Azmi Thassim (working against ethnic divisions), Uwais Mohammed (youth movement), Ashraff Mohammed RMIT University

  10. Localism, nationalism and transnationalism --interconneced layers of community formation • Plans for a gathering of our research network to discuss the outcomes of our research in April 2010 • Plans for a ‘writing retreat’ in Sri Lanka that will focus on a comparison of nation formation in Sri Lanka and Malaysia (with some input from India) • Project on the ‘transnational Tamil imagined community’—ie not diaspora • Plans for a comparative study on community engagement in planning for future crises, to include case studies in Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea RMIT University

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