dissentingdialogues ISSUE N˚ 2 FEBRUARY 2011 As the second issue of dissenting dialogues goes to press, we join in worldwide celebrations of the ongoing democratic revolution in Egypt, itself sparked off by an uprising in Tunisia. The Egyptian uprising, which has tremendous regional and possibly global consequences, REFLECTIONS ON CLASS IN POST-WAR came against a background of simmering unrest directed at SRI LANKA Sunil Bastian p 3 a dictator who presided over a brutal, authoritarian regime. This regime was distinguished by its incarceration and WOMEN WORKERS AND THE STRUGGLE torture not only of its own dissidents but of prisoners FOR LABOUR RIGHTS “renditioned” to it by the CIA, the denial of basic Rohini Hensman p 7 democratic rights on the pretext of fighting Islamism, and rising youth unemployment and inflation. A PORTRAIT OF STUDENT POLITICS IN PERADENIYA Although the timing and form of Egypt’s popular revolt Interview with dissenting dialogues p 11 could not have been predicted, an examination of the recent history of Egypt contextualises the forces at work. LURCHING TOWARDS EXTREMISM For a start, we cannot avoid looking at the recent history of Tisaranee Gunasekara p 16 neoliberalism in Egypt, its relationship to the authoritarianism of President Hosni Mubarak’s POLITICS AND IDEOLOGY IN THE SINHALA PRESS: A SITE OF POWER AND STRUGGLE government, and the regime’s relationship to imperialism. Sumith Chaaminda p 20 The post-war history of Egypt also charts and indeed defines the historical trajectory of Third World sovereignty. MY LIFE AND JAFFNA Egypt’s revolt has to be understood in the context of the Sharmila Haneefa p 25 progressive socialist, anti-colonial struggle for national self-determination of the Bandung era from the 1950s until A REVIEW OF THE INTERNATIONAL TAMIL the liberalisation of the economy in the 1970s, the WRITERS’ CONFERENCE – 2011 International Monetary Fund’s “restructuring” in the early Kanaganayagam Valethanchan p 27 1990s, and the recent capitulation to the accumulation strategy of global finance capital. BOYCOTT CALLS AND INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT Sivamohan Sumathy & Mahendran Thiruvarangan p 30 How did the anti-colonialism of the Bandung era succumb to imperial interests, and how have external actors 1972 IN RETROSPECT strengthened current ruling regimes? What was the Jayampathy Wickramaratne p 33 relationship of these successive regimes to the military, and how did that impact on state-society relations? What was the role of neoliberal policies over the last three decades in consolidating the power and fortunes of the dissenting dialogues is a social justice magazine that seeks to ruling regime? How have those policies, in turn, affected expand the space for dissent and critical dialogue on Sri Lanka. The the rural and urban poor and the working classes? What magazine is currently facilitated by the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum with participation and contributions by others committed to a just, has been the response to such exploitation and plural and democratic Sri Lanka. dispossession in the form of struggles? Why did those past e-mail to: [email protected] struggles fail to make major gains, and how have those ISSUE N˚ 2 FEBRUARY 2011 who are economically disenfranchised shaped the present ideology in the specific forms neoliberalism assumes in revolution in Egypt? These questions are important not each national context. We need to examine its dependence only for Egypt and the Arab world, but for many other on authoritarian state apparatuses in certain contexts, the parts of the Third World, as we reflect on arguably one of social formations it spawns, the redistribution of wealth, the most important moments thus far in the twenty-first dispossession of subaltern classes, and rising inequalities it century. typically entails. One of the most remarkable aspects of the revolution has For the moment, Sri Lanka’s capital markets have been been its broad class and multi-denominational flooded by capital flowing from the west, while China and composition. The diverse democratic base of the India are making massive investments in infrastructure. Sri movement that came together at Tahrir Square was Lanka’s post-war moment, characterised as one of inspiring because of the alliances that were born out of “stability and security,” has added to the boost in euphoria, struggle, between men and women, workers and students with a real estate boom centred on tourism. and, in particular, Coptic Christians and Muslim Brotherhood activists raising their clasped hands and At the same time, debates surrounding the future of the chanting “Muslims, Christians, we are one” together with “national question” as a political problem related to secular activists. Furthermore, we must recognise the fact devolution have intentionally been displaced by the that "democracy" for many of the Egyptian trade union, rhetoric of development, although it should be abundantly student and social movement activists does not mean clear that the character of development depends critically liberal democracy alone, but encompasses economic on the manner in which this political problem is handled. redistribution and social justice. Furthermore, uneven development and the sharpening of the rural-urban divide, as well as the divide between the In Sri Lanka right now, some regions are yet to recover Western Province and the rest of the country, are from two waves of severe floods affecting over a million symptoms of the centralisation of power, which has people. The rehabilitation of those affected by floods will paralleled increasing income inequalities over the last augment the efforts and challenges of rehabilitating those many decades. Ideologically, the Sinhala-Buddhist affected by the war and the tsunami - some populations, nationalist manoeuvre of the Rajapaksa regime is one that particularly in the East, have been affected by all three. can further entrench authoritarianism and facilitate The repression, attacks on the press, and the climate of fear neoliberal development, while undermining the characteristic of the war years are continuing. Almost two democratisation of state and society. years after the war, the state of emergency continues and In this global and national context, dissenting dialogues the Prevention of Terrorism Act has not been repealed, seeks to address some important debates on while the powers of the executive presidency have been democratisation and social justice in Sri Lanka. In this consolidated further by the controversial 18th Amendment. issue, we examine the Rajapaksa regime’s economic Despite all these aggravated problems facing the whole outlook, including: the continuities and shifts from over political system, the political actors are in full swing for three decades of open economic policies, the manner in the upcoming local government elections. Why and what which Sri Lanka managed the impact of the war in relation for? to its liberalised economy, the impact of economic changes There has been much emphasis on the Rajapaksa regime’s on women’s labour as the major earner that sustained the authoritarianism and populism rising out of the war balance of payments, and the tremendous costs to victory, but little analysis of the continuities and shifts in workers’ rights. We also attempt to bring out the voices of the realm of economic policies. Such an analysis can draw women workers and student activists to highlight their upon Sri Lanka’s rich tradition of political economic importance for future struggles and changes. Some of the analysis addressing questions around intermediate classes articles engage with the contours of Sinhala-Buddhist and regimes, the impact of the open economic reforms and nationalist ideology and its relationship to the Rajapaksa emergence of free trade zones, the youth uprisings and regime, and the contestations around such ideological their relationship to youth unemployment, and the questions in relation to political-economic issues. Other character of state-led development and social welfare. articles look into responses within the Muslim and Tamil communities to the post-war predicament. There are In light of the global economic crisis of 2008, perhaps the articles that look at recent literary conferences, the deepest crisis since the great depression of the 1930s, new problematic boycott calls from external actors, and the questions have emerged about the legitimacy of debates they have engendered. Finally, there is engagement neoliberalism as an ideology and the changing character of with the history of constitution writing to understand the its practice. We need to understand the relationship challenges of power-sharing and the problems of between global political economic forces and neoliberal centralisation of state power. 2 FEBRUARY 2011 ISSUE N˚ 2 REFLECTIONS ON CLASS IN POST-WAR SRI LANKA Sunil Bastian The military defeat of the Liberation This was due in part to the Tigers of Tamil Eelam in May 2009 concentration of the economy in is certainly a watershed in the recent areas best endowed with history of post-independence Sri infrastructure and other facilities, Lanka. Similar turning points were away from war zones. The the July 1977 election and July 1983 liberalisation of the economy also anti-Tamil violence. The United made external conditions much National Party regime of 1977 not more important for economic Sunil Bastian is a political only inaugurated the more market- growth. So long as global markets economist. His research interests oriented