Paper short abstract:

This paper provides an analysis of the effects of aid on local structures and social networks in a southern Sri Lankan village, and shows how Sri Lankan elite have utilised development aid, following the tsunami of 2004, to further their local authority and redefine social boundaries and space.

Paper long abstract:

This paper analyses the structure of social networks in a southern Sri Lankan community and the effects of development NGOs on local networks and structures following the tsunami of 26th December 2004. Due to the absence of official government representatives in the village, the 'dominant family network' represents the primary unit of political power and authority within the village. The tsunami brought with it a wave of aid and development agencies, where control of the distribution of aid was handed over to local elites from the neighbouring towns. Apart from the social transfiguration arising from the structural damage caused by the tsunami, I argue that the control of aid and its distribution by local elites resulted in the further transfiguration of social networks and local power structures. Aid is utilised by the elite as a political arm in the subjugation of villagers who form part of the lower class. Furthermore, the relocation of villagers to tsunami camps and tsunami villages further inland, part of a government ban on the building or repairing of houses within 100 metres of the coast, has forced locals to redefine their social networks and consequently the boundaries of their social space. By looking at a case study of an elite family from a neighbouring town who own a hotel in the village, I demonstrate how the family utilised development aid to facilitate the extension of their hotel, exert their authority over community members and redefine social boundaries and space.