Wrapping up and reflecting on @politylk.bsky.social's memorial to Gananath Obeyesekere, Jonathan Spencer observes: 'He did not make directly for the centre of anything: instead, the centre followed him. That is why so many things he said and wrote have stuck with us.' polity.lk/the-conscien...

Gananath Obeyesekere exemplified clarity of exposition and integrity as a scholar, writes anthropologist Dennis B. McGilvray, recalling their first encounter in #SriLanka and contretemps over Kannaki in the United States. polity.lk/gananath-obe...

Reminiscences of a brilliant #academic, intellectually fearless and honest: feminist scholar Selvy Thiruchandran on interactions professional and personal with Gananath Obeyesekere. #SriLanka polity.lk/laughter-deb...

Richard F. Gombrich, co-author with Gananath Obeyesekere of '#Buddhism Transformed: Religious Change in #SriLanka', recalls a friendship forged six decades ago over beefsteak and wine in Cambridge, England. polity.lk/a-bridge-bet...

Gananath Obeyesekere, #SriLanka's celebrated anthropologist, died 25 March 2025. Ranjini Obeyesekere in conversation with Crystal Baines, recalls how literature drew them close and influenced Gananath's study of human society. polity.lk/a-literary-m...

Geethika Dharmasinghe applies Gananath Obeyesekere, on the reworking of Sinhala Buddhist tradition interacting with 19th c. Protestant Christianity, to 'ex-Buddhists' drawn to Pentecostal evangelism in 21st c. #SriLanka polity.lk/conversion-a...

Guide and interlocutor to many, Gananath Obeyesekere and 'The Work of Culture' (1990) in particular, are recalled by scholar of Buddhism in the Indian Ocean region, Anne M. Blackburn. #Culture. polity.lk/a-tale-of-tw...

Radhika Coomarasawamy remembers Gananath Obeyesekere on "The Thatched Patio" at Kynsey Terrace and a rich debate between #law and #anthropology during a time of violence. polity.lk/gananaths-tr...

Out Now! Vol. 13 No. 2 (July-Dec 2025). 148pp. LKR1000 from SSA, Barefoot & SLBOOKS.lk #SriLanka. Politics. Ditwah. Ecology. Feminism. Education. Justice. Domestic Violence Act. History. Culture. Labour. Books.

When anthropology grad student Mark P. Whitaker found himself "a pilgrim without a pilgrimage", serendipity led him to Gananath Obeyesekere and later #SriLanka to study Hindu temple festivals in #Batticaloa polity.lk/an-accidenta...

#SriLanka: The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA) 2005, though falling short of expectations, was a step forward for the abused, writes Chulani Kodikara, introducing two essays in #PolityMagazine marking its 20th anniversary. #IWD2026 polity.lk/twenty-years...

Anthropologist Victor C. de Munck recounts two anecdotes of Gananath Obeyesekere from the 1970s; and reviews his former teacher's method of ethnographic psychoanalysis #SriLanka polity.lk/gananath-two...

'Plucking the Stars' by Arulraj Ulaganathan confirms the artist as a bold and imaginative interpreter of the Malaiyaha Tamil experience in the tea plantation economy of Ceylon/SriLanka writes @bskanthakumar.bsky.social. polity.lk/plucking-the...

Gananath Obeyesekere documented visions and trance as a primary source of anthropological insight, across 'Medusa's Hair', '#Buddhism Transformed' and 'The Awakened Ones', writes Anushka Kahandagamage, sharing a fieldwork dream of her own. polity.lk/obeyesekere-...

Historian John D. Rogers recollects four decades of interaction with the anthropologist Gananath Obeyesekere; a constant intellectual presence on scholars of humanities and social sciences in late 20th century #SriLanka. polity.lk/gananath-obe...

Who were the Väddas? What happened to them? In #SriLanka there were no “indigenous peoples”, no “aborigines”, no “wild men” and “tribes” of Western imagination argues Gananath Obeyesekere, reviewed by RS Perinbanayagam. polity.lk/the-creation...

#anthropology is not only about studying the Other but also about transforming the Self. Sanmugeswaran Pathmanesan reflects on how personal interaction with Gananath Obeyesekere and Mark Whitaker, transformed his epistemological perspective. polity.lk/an-epistemol...

Celebrating Gananath Obeyesekere who was born today (02.02.1930), Roderick L. Stirrat remembers a generous friend who left us on 25 March 2025, opening #PolityLk's series of remembrances and reflections on #SriLanka's foremost anthropologist. polity.lk/gananath-ren...

Carmen Wickramagamage commends Darshi Thoradeniya for centring women in #SriLanka's narrative on modernisation and development. Thoradeniya argues population control was achieved through strict surveillance and control of women's reproductive sexuality. polity.lk/critical-his...

In Welewatta, people once coexisted with flooding. Now they fear it. Shashik Silva records the local history of a village on the edge of Colombo, changed by development and consumerism #CycloneDitwah #SriLanka polity.lk/from-living-...

In solidarity with the people’s uprising in #Iran, we amplify this message by an independent trade union (trans. Sepideh Jodeyri): neither leaders from above; nor reliance on foreign powers or factions of the ruling class, offer genuine freedom, equality, and justice. polity.lk/iran-solidar...

The NPP's vision of governance is neutral to social identity and political power, therefore entrenching already existing inequalities, write the Editors in their closing reflection on #SriLanka in 2025. polity.lk/governing-in...

The regulation of #microfinance in #SriLanka must ensure real protections for women borrowers, stricter oversight of unfair lending & abusive recovery practices, & enforceable safeguards during disasters and emergencies urges #Suriya polity.lk/review-and-r...

The regulation of #microfinance in #SriLanka must ensure real protections for women borrowers, stricter oversight of unfair lending & abusive recovery practices, & enforceable safeguards during disasters and emergencies urges #Suriya polity.lk/review-and-r...

Jayadeva Uyangoda's report-card on Year 1 of the National People's Power (NPP) government, in the backdrop of South Asia's #GenZ-led uprisings, plus a postscript on #CycloneDitwah and forecast of political storms ahead #SriLanka. polity.lk/jayadeva-uya...

As planetary politics roil from US invasion of #Venezuela & kidnap of Maduro & Flores with the aim of robbing its wealth, two past editorials on the unravelling global order: Jan 2023 polity.lk/palestine-an... ; and July 2025 polity.lk/there-is-gre... may be of interest #SriLanka

The Polity Team Wishes Its Readers a Happy New Year! Top 20 articles read in 2025: polity.lk/top-20-artic...

Ponni Arasu, Ameena Hussein, Nubendra Liyanage, Madhubashani Disanayaka Ratnayake, Kalana Senaratne and Praveen Tilakaratne tell us the three top books they read this year. What were your favourites in 2025, and why? polity.lk/collective-b...

The efforts of women in and around the 2022 #Aragalaya to give meaning and substance to the demand for "system change" from a left feminist perspective, are retraced by Chulani Kodikara and Amalini de Sayrah. polity.lk/chulani-kodi...

Samanmali of #DaBinduCollective stood at the intersection of political organising, feminist consciousness-building & working-class struggle. Kumudini Samuel recalls the life of a remarkable activist #SriLanka polity.lk/kumudini-sam...

From under the rubble of Gaza, in the death rattle of the old order, a new form of justice for the peoples of the world can be built, argues @kirankgrewal.bsky.social in her 2025 Rajani Thiranagama Memorial Lecture #SriLanka polity.lk/kiran-kaur-g...

#CyloneDitwah laid waste last week. Reflecting on this latest climate calamity, @bskanthakumar.bsky.social invokes @amitav.bsky.social: public education and political will, are crucial in disaster preparedness & saving life #SriLankafloods polity.lk/b-skanthakum...

#CyloneDitwah laid waste last week. Reflecting on this latest climate calamity, @bskanthakumar.bsky.social invokes @amitav.bsky.social: public education and political will, are crucial in disaster preparedness & saving life #SriLankafloods polity.lk/b-skanthakum...

As #CycloneDitwah's aftermath unfolds, humanitarian relief is vital. Amalini De Sayrah has curated a list of mutual aid appeals across #SriLanka. If you can help, please do so —and stay safe. #FloodSriLanka2025 📷: AFP tinyurl.com/LKfloods25

In #SriLanka, history is not the past but perpetual present writes Ruben Thurairajah. Dutugemunu and Prabhakaran as embodiments of Sinhalas & Tamils; each side finding in the other’s hero, the proof of its own wounds. polity.lk/ruben-thurai...

Dead. P. Pushpalatha (44), mother-of-two. Production-line worker in a #SriLanka's 'garments without guilt' flagship firm. Ishankha Singha Arachchi reports on the campaign for truth & justice by her family and unions. polity.lk/ishankha-sin...

Appraising the first 12 months of the #NPP government, Janaka Biyanwila argues that with mixed success, it has attempted to expand the "politics of the possible" in an unfavourable conjuncture for progressive movements. polity.lk/janaka-biyan...

Appraising the first 12 months of the #NPP government, Janaka Biyanwila argues that with mixed success, it has attempted to expand the "politics of the possible" in an unfavourable conjuncture for progressive movements. polity.lk/janaka-biyan...

"There is no life without nature". Declaration (16.11.2025) of people's movements in Belem opposed to the logic and dynamics of an economic system that prioritises profit and private accumulation of wealth. #COP30 polity.lk/the-peoples-...

The near doubling of women parliamentarians in #SriLanka owes to the community activism and left-feminism of 𝐺𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑢 𝐴𝑝𝑖 𝐸𝑘𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎 #NPP explains Kaushalya Ariyarathne MP, but challenges persist. polity.lk/kaushalya-ar...

The near doubling of women parliamentarians in #SriLanka owes to the community activism and left-feminism of 𝐺𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑢 𝐴𝑝𝑖 𝐸𝑘𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎 #NPP explains Kaushalya Ariyarathne MP, but challenges persist. polity.lk/kaushalya-ar...

The protection order interrupts harm but stops there. Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage asks us to re-design #SriLanka's Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA 2005)--from a wall to a safe space for victim-survivors. polity.lk/prasanna-pit...

The protection order interrupts harm but stops there. Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage asks us to re-design #SriLanka's Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA 2005)--from a wall to a safe space for victim-survivors. polity.lk/prasanna-pit...

"Rakesfall is an extraordinary achievement in science fiction, and a titanic work of art.” Congratulations Vajra Chandrasekera ( @vajra.me ) on the award of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction! polity.lk/vajra-chandr...

Kaushalya Ariyarathne breaks new ground in scholarship on gender and sex-work in South Asia, beyond binaries of victim-hood and empowerment, in a fine ethnographic account of #SriLanka's #Nachchi, writes Zahrah Rizwan. polity.lk/f-zahrah-riz...

Kaushalya Ariyarathne breaks new ground in scholarship on gender and sex-work in South Asia, beyond binaries of victim-hood and empowerment, in a fine ethnographic account of #SriLanka's #Nachchi, writes Zahrah Rizwan. polity.lk/f-zahrah-riz...

Will the new #Microfinance Bill be the latest knot in the noose for poor people in #SriLanka asks the Feminist Collective for Economic Justice? Why is the #NPP not consulting with women victims to eradicate the microcredit menace? polity.lk/fcej-end-the...

Two decades since the #PDVA, how does it work for victim-survivors of intimate partner violence? Thahira Cader & Raaya Gomez talked to lawyers on hurdles in obtaining protection orders under the Act. polity.lk/thahira-cade...

Out Now! Vol. 13, No. 1 (2025), LKR800 from the Social Scientists’ Association and LKR1000 from Barefoot and Vijitha Yapa bookshops.

Out Now! Vol. 13, No. 1 (2025), LKR800 from the Social Scientists’ Association and LKR1000 from Barefoot and Vijitha Yapa bookshops.