St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • International Relations (School of)
  • International Relations
  • International Relations Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • International Relations (School of)
  • International Relations
  • International Relations Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • International Relations (School of)
  • International Relations
  • International Relations Theses
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Political violence in the Third World: a case study of Sri Lanka

Thumbnail
View/Open
SVDGSamaranayakePhDThesis.pdf (27.65Mb)
Date
1991
Author
Samaranayake, S. V. D. Gamini
Supervisor
Wilkinson, Paul
Metadata
Show full item record
Altmetrics Handle Statistics
Abstract
Political violence in Sri Lanka is not a unique phenomenon. It is a prevalent tendency in many countries of the Third World. Sri Lanka, since 1971, has experienced a sharp escalation of political violence which renders it suitable as a case study of insurgency and guerrilla warfare in developing countries. The author's major thrust is a comparative review the causes, patterns, and implications of the leftwing Insurrection of 1971 and the Tamil guerrilla warfare up to the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in June 1987. This thesis highlights the salient socio-economic and political factors, underscoring the view that ethnicity is the impetus behind the continuing turmoil in Sri Lankan society. The author's main hypotheses are that the Insurrection of 1971 as well as the subsequent Tamil guerrilla warfare were pre-planned and well-organised, and that the politically violent organisations in Sri Lanka were mainly a result of the emergence of new social forces which came about due to socio-economic and political transformations. The analysis begins with a review of the theories of political violence. Of these theories Huntington's theory of modernisation relates more closely to the origin of the political violence movement in Sri Lanka. The awakening of the earliest guerrilla group, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (J. V. P. ), in 1971 lay deeply rooted in socio-economic and political factors. The emergence of the Tamil guerrilla organisations stemmed from the long-standing competition between the Sinhala majority and the minority Tamils for limited socio-economic resources and exclusive political powers. The study shows that the socio-economic background of the leaders and members were diverse and often paradoxical, if not at odds to the groups' goals. The ethno-nationalist ideologies, strategies and tactics of the guerrilla organisations, instiled group consciousness and goaded otherwise ordinary citizens to commit political violence. The pattern of political violence in Sri Lanka was a highly emotive expression of anti-establishment and secessionist convictions on the part of the guerrillas. Finally, the study proposes politico-economic reforms rather than military options to cope with the problem of political violence in Sri Lanka.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Collections
  • International Relations Theses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/2732

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter