A Sociological Study of Tamil Entrepreneurship with Special Reference to Up-Country Tamil Business in Sri Lanka
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
1 A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF TAMIL ENTREPRENEURSHIP WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO UP-COUNTRY TAMIL BUSINESS IN SRI LANKA SARATH ANANDA B.A. (Hons) Peradeniya, M Phil (HUST) Wuhan A THESIS SUBMITED FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 2 A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF TAMIL NTREPRENEURSHIP WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO UP-COUNTRY TAMIL BUSINESSIN SRI LANKA SARATH ANANDA NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 2011 I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The submission of a PhD thesis is undoubtedly one of the greatest moments in the life of an academic. It is also a very sensitive occasion once it is earned after facing numerous challenges. I share the same feelings at the moment. Since this is not an outcome of a single day or single month, a lengthy list of people comes to my mind as stakeholders of this effort during the four-year study period. First of all I am grateful to the Singapore government for offering me an opportunity to read for my doctoral degree at the NUS; and to my teachers Prof. K.T. Silva and Prof. Amarasiri de Silva who shared their valuable time to recommend me for this PhD programme. Dr. Ms. Samarakoon, the former Dean of Arts and Social Sciences is also memorable as one of the atypical kind-hearted personalities at the Sabaragamuwa University. I will never forget Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, Chairman of the University Grants Committee who helped me defend many issues that came from the university administration. My cherished colleagues Mr. Aruna Shantha, Mr. Niroshan Vithanage, Ms. Shanthi Hemalatha, and Mr. Sampath Fernando, Athula Samarakoon and Miss Kalpani come to mind as gracious friends in this adventure. I also offer my gratitude to Ravi, Sunethra, and Ranjula all Sabaragamuwa University staffers for their cooperation in various ways. The academic support received from Prof. S.K. Pinnawala was also another significant turning point of this process. My previous Supervisory Committee members; Prof. Jennifer Jarman, Prof. Joonmo Son, Prof. Rajesh Rai should also be kept at the frontline of this thank giving list for spending their time to guide me towards considerable destinations in this arduous academic journey. Especially, Prof. Jennifer showed so much kindness towards me by addressing defensive points during difficult times. Prof. Petrovic Miodrag (Misha) my supervisor, I am particularly indebted to him for his outstanding subject knowledge, friendly cooperation and accountability in this process. I would never have been able to finish this work if I had not met him as a teacher during my study period. My colleagues as well as friends, Susantha, Chandima, Dushyanthan, Mr. Shiva and Miss. Nuwanthi played significant roles as helpers at the stage of independent data collecting. Their knowledge on research methodology and different areas of research field and personal contact with interviewees enabled me into collecting valuable data. Moreover, Dr. Nageshwaran, the Head of the Department of Languages of Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka and Prof. Chandrasekaran, Dean of the Faculty of Education of University of Colombo enhanced my knowledge on Up-country Tamil community as the central spaces of my academic social network unfolded. Ms. Nandani & Pandmini are memorable in providing network relations to overcome accommodation facilities in the research field. Mr. Madugalla (The Secretary of Nuwaraeliya Urban Council) & Mr. Ranathunge (Secretary of the Hatton Urban Council) are also outstanding officials and friends who helped me II officially and unofficially. Mr. Rusiri and Mr. Nishantha helped me as sureties during my hard times of processing university agreement procedures. The staff members of Peradeniya University Library, SUSL Library, Sathyodaya & ICES library in Kandy are remarkable for their services. Especially Ms. Niranjala, Ajantha, Kanchana, and Mr. Alwis are noteworthy among the acquaintances of those libraries. Further, my greater gratitude should go for my NUS teachers in sociology: Prof. Micheal Hill, Prof. Erb Marybeth, Prof. Chee Kiong Dong, Prof. Jean Yeung Wei- Jun, Prof. Chua Beng Huat, and CELC teachers Mr. Jeganathan, Miss. Soon-Fen, Mr. Patrick Gallow and Dr. Chitra who were crucial in widening my knowledge in sociology and the English language. I have to particularly mention here and offer my gratefulness for the kind and amicable assistance of Mrs. Raja & Miss Shirley who made it easy to resolve so many difficulties of NUS life. Some NUS friends like Shahoo, Zaiful, Keith, Minushree, Stephanie, Omar and other strong network members like Lalith, Ransi, Rev. Pathmasiri, Rev. Gunasiri, Rev. Dhammasiri, Jayathilaka, Pubudu & Amil are remembered here as companions who restored to health my heart which was broken regularly by homesickness. Friends I met at the hostel: Mrinal, Kwadew, Manav, Alex, Rajiv, Waqas, Rameez and many others are memorable for their general and academic support. I also must thank several individuals such as Mr. Yaw, Mr. Ranjith Wijekoon, and Mr. Mustafa Shabbir for their cooperative support given to me to breach my lousy English writing. I am also grateful to my wife Inoka and the two young daughters, Maleena and Amarna for their various sacrifices and facing many challenges during my absence as husband and a dad for a lengthy period. Finally, I would like to dedicate my thesis towards the Up-country Tamil workers who have been shedding their blood, tears and sweat to fertilize our lands for almost two centuries. III TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ I TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... III ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ VI LIST OF TABLE .................................................................................................... VII LIST OF CHART ................................................................................................. VIII LIST OF GRAPHS .................................................................................................. IX LIST OF MAPS........................................................................................................ X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................. XI 1.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Significance of Study.................................................................................................. 5 1.3. Theoretical Significance ................................................................................................... 8 1.4. Policy Significance ......................................................................................................... 11 1.5. Research Objectives........................................................................................................ 13 1.6. Chapters Outline ............................................................................................................ 14 1.7. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter II ................................................................................................................ 19 2.1 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................... 19 2.2 Defining Entrepreneurship............................................................................................... 20 2.3 Mainstream and Outsider Entrepreneurship ..................................................................... 21 2.3. Social Capital in Networking Ability and Entrepreneurship ............................................. 26 2.4. Bonding and Bridging ..................................................................................................... 31 2.5. The Function of Market .................................................................................................. 40 2.6. Summary ........................................................................................................................ 42 Chapter III ............................................................................................................... 44 3. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 44 3.1. Research Field................................................................................................................ 44 Nuwara Eliya .................................................................................................................... 45 Badulla ............................................................................................................................. 46 Hatton .............................................................................................................................. 46 3.2 Target, Study Unit and Sampling...................................................................................... 47 3.3 Data Collection Techniques ............................................................................................. 48 3.3.1 Interviewing ............................................................................................................. 48 3.3.2 Sociogram-sociometric