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Sri Lankan civil society and its fanatics

journal contribution
posted on 2009-01-01, 00:00 authored by Rohan BastinRohan Bastin
The current moment, seen by some as an interregnum between societies of discipline and control, is marked by intense forms of religious fanaticism and iconoclasm that are striving to create new forms of the state. This is evident in the militancy and political engagement of Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, who promote war against Tamil separatists as well as violent resistance to the proselytization identified with global civil society agencies that, due to the war and the 2004 tsunami disaster, have been active in the country. The article looks at this rising Buddhist militancy, which is associated with a political party that is linked to the more famous party known as the JVP. It argues that instead of resisting the formation of the new global civil society, the iconoclasm of this Buddhist political formation is facilitating its establishment.

History

Journal

Social analysis

Volume

53

Pagination

123-140

Location

New York, N.Y.

ISSN

0155-977X

eISSN

1558-5727

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1.1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

Copyright notice

2009, Berghahn Books

Editor/Contributor(s)

Alfred Deakin Research Institute | Staff | BASTIRO | 0000016069

Issue

1

Publisher

Berghahn Books