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The London School of Economics and Political Science Civil Society The London School of Economics and Political Science Civil Society, Human Security, and the Politics of Peace- building in Victor’s Peace Sri Lanka (2009-2012) Janel Smith A thesis submitted to the Department of International Relations of the London School of Economics for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, London, 2013 Declaration I certify that the thesis I have presented for examination for the MPhil/PhD degree of the London School of Economics and Political Science is solely my own work other than where I have clearly indicated that it is the work of others (in which case the extent of any work carried out jointly by me and any other person is clearly identified in it). The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted, provided that full acknowledgement is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without my prior written consent. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party. I declare that my thesis consists of <119,036> words. Abstract This thesis aims to expand scholarship on civil society and peace-building through exploration of civil society’s experiences, perspectives, and practices in relation to the politics of peace-building and human (in)security in instances of victor’s peace, using post-war Sri Lanka as case study. It adopts Human Security as an analytical approach calling attention to insecurities operating on and through Sri Lankans but also the nature of power dynamics underlying these insecurities based on the subjective and political nature of ‘peace’ itself. The thesis contributes conceptually and empirically to knowledge of the operation of victor’s peace and its implications for civil society in peace-building. This thesis’s central contention is that acts of securitization and governmentality carried out by Sri Lanka’s central governmental elite within and enabled by the victor’s peace have constricted spaces for civil society to articulate alternatives or engage in critical dialogue within the political process fostered under the victor’s peace. This study, thus, questions romanticized notions of the potentiality of ‘local’ resistances to shift structural inequalities and power asymmetries in victor’s peace. At a disciplinary level, the thesis also deepens knowledge, first, on civil society as complex and contested sphere. It argues that to conceptualize civil society as homogenous or inherently altruistic risks drastically oversimplifying its highly diffuse nature and politics within the sector in which certain actors may benefit within the victor’s peace and engage in ‘peace’-building activities in order to both capitalise on those benefits and sustain the victor’s peace. Second, the thesis addresses the nexus between civil society and peace-building, and specifically the politics of peace-building, in the victor’s peace. In not being constrained by negotiated peace settlement it asserts that, as in Sri Lanka, instances of victor’s peace can quickly transition into repressive environments. Here it is unlikely that civil society, despite innovative methods of exercising agency, can significantly alter the trajectories of the ‘peace’, and further that those civil society actors that support the victor’s peace may seek to exploit the benefits they gain from it at the expense of the human security of others. Finally, the thesis asserts that, ultimately, Human Security’s utility may lie not as political agenda that validates external intervention based on a ‘responsibility’ to intervene, but as a conceptual framework for developing deeper understandings of the nature of (in)security and factors driving (in)security at multiple levels of analysis within different articulations or ‘types’ of peace. Acknowledgements Embarking on a PhD has been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my life. Both the happy and hard moments have been shared with many more people than it is possible to thank in this ‘Acknowledgments’, but to those family, friends, and colleagues both at the LSE and abroad that I have connected with over the last four years, it has been a great privilege to have you in my life and I thank you for the ways that you have enriched it. I would like to express my appreciation and gratitude to my supervisor, Mark Hoffman, for the guidance that he has provided throughout my doctorate and especially for his patience in reading through several rather lengthy drafts of this thesis! His natural good nature and calm demeanour have been appreciated much more than he is probably aware and I have greatly enjoyed and valued our conversations on Sri Lanka. To Dr. Leonie Solomons, without your counsel, mentorship, and constructive challenges this thesis would not exist in its current form. Our nightly chats whilst I was conducting fieldwork in Sri Lanka were amongst the most stimulating and thought-provoking I have had throughout this entire process. Words cannot sufficiently express what your support and assistance has meant to me and I am honoured to have you as a friend. I look forward to working together again in the near future. I am deeply indebted to the research participants who contributed to this study, particularly in Sri Lanka, who opened their lives, experiences, and struggles to me, sometimes with significant personal risk to themselves. I hope that I have been able to adequately capture your stories in this thesis. The time that I spent in Sri Lanka touched me deeply and changed me in ways that I am still just beginning to realise. The conversations I had, people I met, and adventures I experienced in this beautiful country will be with me forever. My PhD would not have been possible without the innumerable sacrifices made by my wonderful husband Eric. I thank him more than he will ever know for his willingness to uproot our lives in Canada and move across the ocean to the UK so that I could pursue my dreams, for his infallibly positive and encouraging attitude, and for being my partner throughout so much of this research. He has remained my sounding board, source of inspiration, and driving force when things got difficult that has enabled me to finish the thesis. Last, but certainly not least, a huge thank you to my parents for their 32 years of unwavering love and support in all of my pursuits and for always being a shoulder to cry on, an outlet to vent to, and a friend to laugh with and share the many amazing experiences that I have been fortunate enough to have on this journey. Thank you for always believing that I can do anything I put my mind to. Table of Contents Chapter 1 - Civil Society and the Politics of Peace-building 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Civil Society and Peace-building 9 1.3 Human Security as Conceptual Framework 26 1.4 Establishing the Parameters of the Thesis: 33 Research Questions, Objectives, and Frameworks 1.5 Structure of the Thesis 62 Chapter 2 - Human Security as Analytical Framework 66 2.1 Introduction 66 2.2 Addressing Criticisms of Human Security 68 2.3 Towards Human Security as Conceptual Lens 74 2.4 Operationalizing Human Security 76 2.5 Conclusion 96 Chapter 3 – Reconceptualising Civil Society in Diverse Political 100 and Cultural Contexts 3.1 Introduction 100 3.2 Theorising Civil Society: Dominant Discourses and Historical Roots 102 3.3 Positioning Civil Society in Late Modernity: Classification and Contextualisation 105 3.4 Civil Society in Peace-building Research 111 3.5 Western versus Non-Western Conceptions of Civil Society 113 3.6 Global Civil Society and the Politics of North-South Relations within Civil Society 117 3.7 Securitising Civil Society in a Post 9/11 World 121 3.8 Exercising Agency: Resistances and Engagement 124 3.9 Conclusion 129 Chapter 4 – Sri Lanka: Anatomy of an Ethnic Civil Conflict and Victor’s Peace 133 4.1 Introduction 133 4.2 The Anatomy of an Ethnic Civil Conflict 135 4.3 Constructing the ‘Other’: Understanding ethno-nationalist identity politics and their impact on the conflict 138 4.4 Terrorism and the LTTE 143 4.5 Norwegian Peace Efforts and the Liberal Peace in Sri Lanka 148 4.6 Impacts of the 2004 Tsunami 153 4.7 The Defeat of the LTTE and Victor’s Peace Sri Lanka 158 4.8 Regional and Transnational Dynamics 170 4.9 Conclusion 181 Chapter 5 – Contextualising Civil Society in Sri Lanka 184 5.1 Introduction 184 5.2 Situating Sri Lankan Civil Society in Historical Context 189 5.3 Civil Society after Independence 192 5.4 Civil Society during the War 194 5.5 The CA and the Roles of INGO’s 198 5.6 Impacts of the Tsunami on Sri Lankan Civil Society 203 5.7 Contemporary Spaces for Civil Society within Victor’s Peace Sri Lanka 207 5.8 Addressing Human Insecurity through Post-war Civil Society ‘Peace’ Work 215 5.9 Conclusion 245 Chapter 6 – Tensions, Challenges, and Contradictions within Sri Lanka’s Contemporary Civil Society Sector 248 6.1 Introduction 248 6.2 Caste relations and Civil Society 249 6.3 Gendering Civil Society 256 6.4 ‘Elite’ – ‘Grass-roots’ Civil Society Dynamics 260 6.5 The Politics of Donor Aid 268 6.6 The Ethnicisation of Sri Lankan Civil Society 281 6.7 Roles and Relations between Sri Lanka’s Religious Organisations 286 6.8 Sinhalese Nationalism as (Un)Civil Society 291 6.9 A Distinctly Muslim Sri Lankan Civil Society? 300 6.10 Conclusion 310 Chapter 7 – ‘Securitising’ Sri Lankan Civil Society: Power and the Politics of Victor’s Peace Sri Lanka 312 7.1 Introduction 312 7.2 Sovereign Power and Centralisation in Post-War Sri Lanka 314 7.3 Linking ‘Tamil Terrorism’ and the ‘Global War on Terror’ in ‘ends’
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