Papers by Dhammika Herath
Literacy is ability to read and write or knowledge that relates to a specified subject or subject... more Literacy is ability to read and write or knowledge that relates to a specified subject or subject area. UNESCO has Convinced that "literacy is crucial to the acquisition, by every single child, youth and adult, of Essential life skills," UNESCO was designated 2003 to 2012 as the decade of literacy. They directly recognize that everyone needs to develop the ability to access, assess, and use information in a variety of ways. Librarians recognize their huge growing role in literacy, reading research can help them gather facts and suggest good Solutions. Using Research to Promote Literacy and Reading in Libraries extends the first brochure by Focusing on the importance of wisely consuming, conducting and applying research Conducted by librarians and their partners in order to promote literacy and reading. People believe that libraries are uniquely situated to promote literacy and reading. It is a part of their mission. And it is a mission of all types of libraries, from school and public to special, Research, university and national. The main objective of this Research is to identify the Reading Promotion Activities that we can use to promote literacy and Reading in Sri Lankan Libraries. The problem of this research is lack of Using Research to Promote Literacy and Reading in Libraries. The selection of the sample involved in the selection of 10 public Libraries in Kurunegala district and the selection of Readers and Librarians in those Libraries. Due to time and other constraints it was necessary to limit the sample for 10 public Libraries in one district. In order to give a fair chance to all. Using simple random sampling method 05 Readers were selected to administer the questionnaire I. The second questionnaire was administered among the Librarians of public libraries. Studies on the Promote Literacy and Reading in Libraries is one of the key research areas in the field of Library and information Science. The analysis of data revealed the following major finding, Public Libraries have been playing a vital role in the promotion of Reading promotion In Sri Lanka. Librarians require Good Practice about Reading and Literacy promotion activities.
De-Housing and Re-Housing—Evictee’s Reflections on the Process: The Experiences of Relocation in Colombo and Cochin
An inquest into the linkages between social capital and development in war-torn villages in Sri L... more An inquest into the linkages between social capital and development in war-torn villages in Sri Lanka ___________________________________ av Dhammika Herath Akademisk avhandling för filosofie doktorsexamen i freds-och utvecklingsforskning, Institutionen för globala studier, Göteborgs universitet, som med tillstånd av Samhällsvetenskapliga fakultetsnämnden läggs fram för offentlig granskning fredagen den 30 maj 2008, klockan 10.15 i sal 514, Annedalsseminariet, Campus Linné, Seminariegatan 1.
Post-war Reconstruction in Sri Lanka. Prospects and Challenges
International Centre for Ethnic Studies eBooks, 2010
Academics’ manufacturing of counter-narratives as knowledge resistance of official hegemonic narratives in identity conflicts
Journal of political power, May 3, 2020
ABSTRACT This article illustrates how official hegemonic narratives of armed conflicts and histor... more ABSTRACT This article illustrates how official hegemonic narratives of armed conflicts and history are resisted by academics by generating counter-narratives and how this affects the public perception of identity conflicts. Due to the relatively high status of academics, critical and alternative knowledge production serve as a tool for resistance against the mainstream narrative. In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we discuss competing narratives, and how new narratives by various academics challenge the official narrative. In the case of Rwanda where the resistance is more clandestine, we demonstrate how the official narrative is challenged by academics and individuals based outside the country. In the case of Sri Lanka, we highlight how two dominant narratives, one by the government and the other by the rebels, competed with the counter-narratives. Overall, we demonstrate how counter-narratives construed to serve as a form of resistance are unfolding in various struggles, and how the gradual impact of academics’ agencies on changing hegemonic narratives finds a contextual definition.
Development Discourse of the Globalists and Dependency Theorists: do the globalisation theorists rephrase and reword the central concepts of the dependency school?
Third World Quarterly, Jun 1, 2008
... The post-World War II classical development theory upheld the modernisation paradigm, which s... more ... The post-World War II classical development theory upheld the modernisation paradigm, which saw ... conditions in developing countries, generated the dependency school, which offeredalternative explanations and a ... The world becomes a common theatre for all kinds of actors. ...
Contemporary South Asia, Feb 11, 2019
Corruption is endemic, pervasive and embedded in the very fabric in social life in some societies... more Corruption is endemic, pervasive and embedded in the very fabric in social life in some societies, although its degree varies case to case. Previous academic research and anti-corruption watchdogs have examined corruption in Sri Lanka, where corruption is perceived to be pervasive and endemic but, existing studies are inadequate to explain why corruption occurs and anti-corruption continues to fail in Sri Lanka. In our study, we use the contrasting perspectives of 'collective action problem' and the 'principal-agent' framework to analyse the dynamics that cause and maintain corruption in Sri Lanka as well as the obstacles and possibilities that people fighting corruption are experiencing. We address this aim in a novel way: our observations and fieldwork in Sri Lanka got us in contact with individuals who made concerted efforts to reveal and oppose corruption at different levels; we call them 'corruption fighters'. We argue, through the insights from corruption fighters, that corruption represents a 'collective action problem' and that to understand why corruption fighters still choose to oppose it, they need to be situated within a discourse of corruption and close attention must be paid to personal motivations and the way they construct meaning in the fight against corruption.
Third World Quarterly, Dec 1, 2009
Like most other concepts in the social sciences, 'development' does not entail a commonly agreed ... more Like most other concepts in the social sciences, 'development' does not entail a commonly agreed upon meaning, context or programme of action. It is defined in different ways depending on the time, space, context, professional and organisational interests of the one who does the business of defining. The meaning of development has also undergone a remarkable transformation over the course of history from the Enlightenment concept of 'Progress' to encompass a great variety of human needs. This paper analyses how the contemporary discourse of development has reached a mature state and how it enables us to understand development in context-and culture-sensitive ways. It is now possible to determine what development means in different settings, and how to bring in material and non-material prosperity to people living in different contexts and cultures. After a theoretical discussion an empirical study in Sri Lanka is presented which attempts to arrive at a more refined context-and culture-sensitive definition of development. The paper argues that, in order to understand development at micro-settings, it is better to construct our own indexes of development rather than using global measures. It shows how the current state of the discourse of development can lend insights into construction of a development index. An interesting puzzle in the discourse of development centres on the genesis of the very idea of development. Some scholars locate the beginning of development as a modern enterprise, aimed at a conscious purpose, in the 1940s. A landmark in the discourse of development was 20 January 1949, when the then US president Harry S Truman made his famous inaugural speech to the Congress where he pinpointed the 'Southern Hemisphere' as 'underdeveloped' and underscored the need and commitment of 'advanced' countries to fight underdevelopment. 1 Yet many others contest the recent origin of the idea of development and trace its origin as far back as the era of European Enlightenment in the 18th century or even longer. The Enlightenment was essentially associated with a tendency for 'critical reasoning' and the application of 'reason'. It is argued that the idea of development originated from this tendency to 'form critical inquiries about the organization and structure of societies and to apply reason to these social scientific investigations'. Enlightenment also brought forth the idea of 'progress' and
Sri Lanka journal of social sciences, Jun 28, 2018
This paper examines the causal relationship between social capital and development in micro setti... more This paper examines the causal relationship between social capital and development in micro settings at a time of violent conflict by taking a case study of six villages in the north of Sri Lanka. The rich and vast literature on social capital has documented the causal linkages between social capital and the various social and economic outcomes, which, among others include development, better functioning democracies, ethnic harmony, and so on. This particular paper is focusing on micro settings to seek whether social capital is a significant factor of development in such settings, especially, at a time when these settings have gone through violent conflict, where people have been set apart by cleavages of ethnicity and/or religion. This requires understanding and measuring both social capital and development in a manner sensitive and meaningful for micro settings. Relatively, few studies show how this can be achieved and hence the research gap. This study finds that bonding social capital is a strong factor in development in terms of supporting agriculture even at a time of conflict. Bonding social capital is important in converting natural resources into economic assets which improve the level of development. Bridging social capital has had historical significance not only in agriculture but also in many other aspects. An equally important objective of the paper is to illustrate how a mixed-method approach of using both qualitative and quantitative techniques can be used for social capital research. Most studies on social capital depend either on quantitative or qualitative methods and fail to capture the intricate dynamics between components of social capital and development outcomes. This particular study shows how social capital can be measured using the indicators that local people suggest, so that, the indexes developed actually measure what is important for the people.
Land and grievances in post-conflict Sri Lanka: exploring the role of corruption complaints
Third World Quarterly, May 28, 2014
ABSTRACT There is a growing academic literature on both land and corruption in relation to post-c... more ABSTRACT There is a growing academic literature on both land and corruption in relation to post-conflict peace building. This paper aims to understand what role corruption complaints play in the nexus between land and grievances in post-conflict societies. Drawing on field material collected in Sri Lanka, the paper interrogates the role of corruption complaints in relation to a number of highly politicised and ethnicised post-conflict land issues, ranging from the return of idps and alleged new resettlement schemes to land grabbing for military, ‘development’ and/or commercial purposes. The comparatively high visibility of land use, and the fact that land-related corruption is likely to affect a specific set of people who lay claim to the land, makes it a particularly important area to address in research on corruption and post-conflict peace building.
This report is about a relocated community in Sinhapura, in Wanathamulla, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sin... more This report is about a relocated community in Sinhapura, in Wanathamulla, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Sinhapura is a government housing complex in two phases, each with 60 apartments built for relocating residents from two shanty communities in Colombo, namely 54 watta in Wanathamulla and 186 watta in Colombo 7. These relocatees have been displaced from their watta communities due to developmental projects undertaken by the Government of Sri Lanka.
Asian Studies Review, Feb 5, 2020
Radicalised Buddhist movements in Sri Lanka and Myanmar have been prominent as drivers of mistrus... more Radicalised Buddhist movements in Sri Lanka and Myanmar have been prominent as drivers of mistrust, tensions and violence directed against Muslim minorities, particularly since the mid-2010s. This article seeks to understand why ordinary monks, who exert tremendous influence in these societies, have developed anti-Muslim sentiments and even endorse radical movements. To do so I analyse the discursive construction of Buddhists as a historically victimised community and of Muslims as the most potent existential threat to that community. The study uses an "empathetic" vantage point to analyse the perceptions of Buddhist monks and laity, because resolving their mistrust of Muslims requires a deeper understanding of their fears and grievances. It delineates a narrative in which other religious communities, historically, have encroached on the Buddhist sphere by imposing limits on its rituals and conversion of Buddhists to other faiths, and through the destruction of Buddhist heritage sites. Monks and laity maintain discourses of fear, stemming from a substantive basis of history in which the pre-colonial and colonial experiences, neglect of local economies, invasions, and incursions into the Buddhist community left a collective memory of injury and external persecution. This narrative critically informs the feelings and behaviour of Buddhist monks vis-à-vis Muslims.
Corrupt Peace? Corruption and Ethnic Divides in Post-war Sri Lanka
Journal of South Asian Development, Jun 29, 2016
It is widely recognized that corruption risks undermining state legitimacy, diminishing trust and... more It is widely recognized that corruption risks undermining state legitimacy, diminishing trust and reducing resources for reconstruction in the aftermath of war. This article aims to advance the understanding of corruption in post-war societies by examining how local experiences of corruption relate to ethnic and other divides in Sri Lanka, where a 26-year war was fought largely along ethnic lines. The article builds on 170 interviews carried out in 2009–2013, focusing on how ‘ordinary people’ perceive corruption and ethnic divides after the war. The article argues that ethnic grievances have less to do with local inter-ethnic relations than with relations between the state and minority groups. We find that state–citizen relations in the post-war period to a large extent have been shaped by practices and discourses of corruption. Although corrupt practices—or practices perceived to be corrupt—are prevalent in all parts of the country and affect all groups, they are often interpreted as instances of ethnic discrimination. However, it is not only ethnic identity that matters in relations between citizens and the (corrupt) state, but also socio-economic position, level of education, language skills, gender and social networks.
Official narratives of armed conflict history and counter-narratives of resistance
Social Impact Assessment: Problem Elephant Rehabilitation Centre (PERC), Lunugamwehera National Park in Sri Lanka
This social Impact Assessment (SIA) is undertaken as an integral part of the proposal to establis... more This social Impact Assessment (SIA) is undertaken as an integral part of the proposal to establish a Problem Elephant Rehabilitation Center (PERC) within the Lunugamwehera National Park (LNP) under a credit line extended by the World Bank to the Government of Sri Lanka (Under the subproject proposal ESCAMP/DWC/EHGLUNUGAMWEHERA/ 2B-02). The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka has assumed the significance of a national issue drawing the attention of the highest political authority in the country. HEC threatens lives human lives as well as elephants and results from wide and constant deforestation in the country, transformations in agriculture, land use patterns and expansion of human settlements. Forest density in the country also has been going down contentiously as a result of expansion of settlements and legal and illegal land acquisition. Department of Wild Life Conservation (DWC) is the key state organ, which is primarily responsible for both the preservation of wild life and also protection of people against attacks by wild animals. The proposal to establish a PERC emerges in response to the long drawn-out HEC in the country.
Post-War Reconstruction in Sri Lanka : Prospects and Challenges
This background paper was prepared as an input on the qualitative component of the "Socio-Economi... more This background paper was prepared as an input on the qualitative component of the "Socio-Economic Assessment of the Conflict Affected Northern and Eastern Provinces" conducted by the World Bank in 2017. The findings from this paper were summarized as Background Paper No. 1 to the main report. The qualitative component of the assessment was conducted by the International Centre for Ethnic Studies for the World Bank. The final version of this paper served as inputs to the World Bank publication:
Library has English version : Experiences of a relocated community in Colombo : case study of Sin... more Library has English version : Experiences of a relocated community in Colombo : case study of Sinhapura, Wanathamulla
Official narratives of armed conflict history and counter-narratives of resistance: the cases of Israel-Palestine, Rwanda and Sri Lanka
Journal of political power, 2020
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Papers by Dhammika Herath