The Paradox of Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalism
Sinhalese Buddhism nationalism (SBN) has been the dominant socio-cultural-political force in SL since Independence. It has captured the state. SBN had strong class and materialist roots: it was originally a successful vehicle for extending and defending the claims of the poorer (Sinhalese) population to state resources. But it has also assisted in the defeat of a range of competing popular movements, and thus contributed to the general political demobilisation of a formerly activist citizenry. Liberated from organized, class-based, ‘popular’ pressures, the political elite has steadily replaced high-spending entitlement-based welfare programmes with successively smaller and more complex patronage-based packages. Governments most closely aligned to SLB have been most responsible for undermining the state’s revenue base, thus ruling out any return to significant welfareist policies. At a time of growing inequality, state capacity to spend on the poor is very limited. How do we explain this paradox? There is very little evidence on which to convict the obvious suspect: ‘capitalist forces’.
Date: 21 May 2019, 14:00 (Tuesday, 4th week, Trinity 2019)
Venue: St Antony's College, 62 Woodstock Road OX2 6JF
Venue Details: Syndicate Room, Old Main Builidng
Speaker: Mick Moore (Institute of Development Studies)
Organising department: Asian Studies Centre
Organiser contact email address: asian@sant.ox.acuk
Part of: Modern South Asian Studies Seminar Series
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Clare Salter