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A Genealogy of an Ethnocratic Present: Rethinking Ethnicity After Sri Lanka’S Civil War

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A Genealogy of an Ethnocratic Present: Rethinking Ethnicity After Sri Lanka’S Civil War A GENEALOGY OF AN ETHNOCRATIC PRESENT: RETHINKING ETHNICITY AFTER SRI LANKA’S CIVIL WAR by STEFAN ANDI SCHUBERT B.A., University of Kelaniya, 2010 A THESIS submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF ARTS Department of English College of Arts and Sciences KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY Manhattan, Kansas 2016 Approved by: Major Professor Gregory Eiselein Copyright STEFAN ANDI SCHUBERT 2016 Abstract The presence and persistence of ethnicity in Sri Lanka has led scholars such as Jayadeva Uyangoda to describe Sri Lanka as an “ethnocracy” and is identified as one of the major challenges for attempts to reconcile communities after a 26-year-long civil war that ended in 2009. The emphasis on ethnicity, however, often makes it difficult for scholars to examine the discontinuities that have shaped the emergence of ethnicity as the most significant social category in the country. This thesis addresses this lacuna by providing a careful re-reading of the conditions under which ethnicity became the focus of both politics and epistemology at the turn of the 20th century in colonial Ceylon. Michel Foucault’s conceptualization of governmentality enables this examination by demonstrating how ethnicity became the terrain on which political rationalities and governmental technologies were deployed in order to shift how populations were constructed as the focus of colonial governance between 1901 and 1911. Colonial political rationalities are explored through an examination of the debate that emerged in the Census reports of P. Arunachalam (1902) and E.B. Denham (1912) over whether Ceylon is constituted by many nationalities or by one nationality—the Sinhalese—and many races. The emergence of this debate also coincided with the Crewe-McCallum Reforms of 1912 which aimed to reform the colonial state in response to the demands of the local population. Like the debate between Arunachalam and Denham, what is at stake in the reforms of 1912 is the question of whether the Island is constituted by many racial populations or a single population. The terms of these debates over ethnicity that took place over a century ago, continue to shape the tenor of Sri Lanka’s post-war political landscape and therefore provides a pathway for understanding how Sri Lanka’s post-war challenges are imbricated in the dilemmas of inhabiting its colonial present(s). Table of Contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... v Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 - Introduction: My Mother’s Concern ............................................................................ 1 A Few Methodological Notes ................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2 - Theoretical Framework: Reading an Ethnocracy ...................................................... 19 Chapter 3 - Nationality or Race?: Census Reports & the Shaping of Political Rationalities ....... 28 Prelude to the 1901 Census ....................................................................................................... 30 Means and Instrumentalities: Arunachalam’s 1901 Census and the Target of Political Rationalities in Ceylon .............................................................................................................. 35 From Law to Knowledge: Arunachalam’s Census Ordinance of 1900 ................................ 37 From Discipline to Knowledge: Arunachalam’s Census Manual ......................................... 39 From Census to Knowledge: Arunachalam’s Vision for the Census Report ........................ 42 Zones of Functionality: Ceylon as the Field of Colonial Political Rationality ......................... 47 From Nationality to Race: The Arunachalam-Denham Debate as Effect................................. 51 The Challenge of Constituting Colonial Political Rationality .............................................. 55 Resolving the Confusion: From the Body of the Colonized to the Body of Knowledge ..... 57 The Effects of the Shift to Knowledge as Marker of Difference .......................................... 59 Conclusion: The Deployment of Nationality/ Race .................................................................. 62 Chapter 4 - Dutiful Subjects: Political Technologies of the Crewe-McCallum Reforms of 1912 66 The Demands of Dutiful Subjects: Local Calls for Change ..................................................... 76 Colonial Responses to Local Demands: McCallum’s Framing of Colonial Governmentality . 82 Addressing Local Demands/ Constituting Colonial Governmentality ..................................... 89 From Interests to Population: The Ceylonese European Community under Colonial Governmentality ....................................................................................................................... 94 Who is Local Anyway?: The Stakes of Governmentality ........................................................ 98 Conclusion: The Hybrid Shape of Colonial Governmentality in Ceylon ............................... 103 Chapter 5 - Conclusion: An Ontology of the Present? ............................................................... 106 References ................................................................................................................................... 119 iv Acknowledgements When I started thinking about the relationship between census reports and the function of ethnicity after the civil war in early 2012 I had no idea that it would snowball (I can think of no better term) into the kind of project that it has now become. More than four years down the line my progress on this journey has been shaped indelibly by encounters with a number of amazing people to whom I owe so much. To Dr. Pradeep Peiris, for inviting an unemployed graduate to join his team at the Social Scientists’ Association without a second thought, for giving me the space to explore the questions that eventually became my thesis and the time to finding answers to them at the National Archives in Colombo, for our shared frustrations and celebrations, for new-wine-in-old- wineskins and for one-step-forward-two-steps-back, for chox and baila sessions. I can’t thank you enough. To Prof. Jayadeva Uyangoda, for your willingness to mentor young researchers like myself when no one else would. For your example and for your challenge to use the research we do to address the urgent demands of Sri Lanka’s present. For the “yakku, perethayo, and holman” that animate this thesis. Thank you, sir. To Dr. Kumari Jayawardena, for your constant reminders to read the marginalia, to collect the unusual stories, and to find ways to bring them into my narrative. For my earliest access to Denham’s work and for your perspectives on post-structuralism. I have had the privilege of learning the possibilities of the archive from you. To Prof. Neloufer de Mel, for challenging me to pull apart the discipline of English at the seams while still using the tools of literary analysis. To me, the rigor of your work and your approach to young people will always be the standard I want to work towards. v Prof. Eisha Hewabowela, for your advocacy for my work and faith in my choices. For always encouraging me to aim higher. For demonstrating in deeds and not words the importance of being a wonderful human being. When I walked into Dr. Prabha Manuratne’s introduction to English class as a freshman in 2005 I had no idea that she would become such an important mentor and friend to me. Her constant support over the years has given me the confidence to keep pushing through even when things haven’t always worked out as I had hoped. Having the opportunity to follow in her footsteps as an MA student at K-State 10 years after her is an incredible honor. To the professors I’ve had privilege of learning from at K-State. Dr. Anne Longmuir, Dr. Tanya Gonzalez, Dr. Don Hedrick, Dr. Naomi Wood, Dr. Cameron Leader-Picone, Dr. Tushabe, Dr. Lisa Tatonetti, and Dr. Traci Brimhall have all shown tremendous patience with and openness to the kinds of questions I’ve posed and my constant focus on a tiny, insignificant island in the Indian Ocean. To Dr. Tanya Gonzalez, for introducing my project to Dr. Eiselein and for helping me to understand the ways in which Cultural Studies provides a home for the kind of work I’ve always wanted to do. Thank you for unscheduled conversations and for being an amazing sounding board in the department. Dr. Anne Longmuir, my first DGS, and the one who helped me to plan my course of study from my first months here. Without your help and foresight, I would have struggled to build the kind of program of study that enabled this thesis. To our friends in Manhattan, KS, particularly, Liz & Tim Culpepper, Maria Ruiz, Dr. Torry Dickinson, Chrischelle & Christina Borhani, Dustin & Wyndi, Colton & Caleb, Dixon & vi Lauren, Mark & Lynn, Sue, Gary & Juli Griffith, for their friendship and warmth. Over shared meals, shopping trips, and coffee conversations, they have become family. To the many people who helped me to put this thesis together in its current form. To Dr. Greg Eiselein, my Major Professor, for agreeing to take on the supervision of a thesis in the midst of his many responsibilities and amazing work at K-State. His calmness and belief in this project has given me the confidence to persevere
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