Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the role played by borderland regions in negotiating and constituting power at the political centre through a comparative examination of the dynamics of peacebuilding, reconstruction and development in the recent post-war transitions in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Paper long abstract:

Recent borderland studies literature has explored the role that margins play in negotiating and constituting power at the centre (Newman, 2006; Donnan and Wilson, 2012; Scott, 2009; Nugent, 2003). This research has found that protracted conflict frequently recalibrates power relations between centre and periphery and that borderlands may become critical sites of institutional and socio-economic innovation with new forms of political authority and new sources of capital accumulation and investment emerging from the periphery (Goodhand, 2004; Raeymakers, 2009; Zeller, 2009). Rather than being of marginal importance to the dynamics of war to peace transitions, borderland regions can play a key role in shaping or determining the post war order. This paper examines the constitutive role of borderlands, through a comparison of the dynamics of peacebuilding, reconstruction and development in post-war Nepal and Sri Lanka, and with reference to war time dynamics. In doing so it assesses the contrasting experiences of classical transnational borderlands with frontier zones on the margins of an island state. It also draws attention to the role played by actors and institutions that span the national and subnational levels, arguing that in both cases these actors appear to be central to negotiating and consolidating (or undermining) the post-war order.

Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that public authority emerges out of a complex set of practices and material engagements. It draws from case study material of local governance in five Districts of Nepal to show that new state forms are emerging.

Paper long abstract:

This paper argues that public authority emerges out of a complex set of practices and material engagements. It draws from case study material of local governance in five Districts of Nepal and places these findings within an analysis of national political processes. The so-called political 'transition' in Nepal following the end of violent civil war ('Maoist People's War' 1996-2006) has been fraught with political infighting and a vacuum of power at the local level. While many have decried the 'state un-building' occurring as a result of messy transitional politics, we argue that a new state is emerging precisely from these dynamics. Rather than dismantling the Nepali state, present practices are legitimating relationships and a logic of rule that are based on compromise, patronage, intimidation, violence and entitlement. While none of these practices are new, a wider set of actors is claiming the right for representation through patronage and violence. By focusing on local level governance in five districts in Nepal and how governance articulates with various development efforts and wider changes in the political economy, we show that new state forms are emerging. These forms of public authority are unlikely to be significantly unsettled by the long awaited elections and approval of a new Constitution.

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores heritage politics in post-war Sri Lanka as a renegotiation of social boundaries. By drawing on ethnographic fieldwork it thereby highlights the performative construction and contestation of novel or re-invented forms of legitimacy.

Paper long abstract:

Post-war contexts are often characterized by a revision of social boundaries with implications for power constellations. In the wake of these transitions, new or re-invented forms of legitimacy come into being. In this paper I will address the politics of heritage in post-war Sri Lanka as an alleged means to stabilize power relations by redrawing boundaries between groups and by crafting a re-imagined nation. This post-war heritage politics crystallized in a notable rise in celebrations of the (new) nation to mark a historical junction and to mold novel forms of legitimacy, while thereby often silencing alternative post-war narratives.

An analysis of such "celebrations" will serve as an example to scrutinize the underlying pattern of post-war rhetoric, which seeks to mark a rupture but in the same vein, to link up with a pre-colonial past to carve out a niche for legitimacy. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, I will however trace spaces of subversion and contestation of this legitimacy in betwixt and between. By closely examining examples of post-war "heritagization", I will argue that heritage politics provides a rich field to delineate the performative construction and contestation of notions of legitimacy.

Paper short abstract:

This paper uses these student activists’ experience as a case study to examine what happens when the future for which people have fought does not actualize as they hoped. I question whether the experience of waiting corresponds with the progressive undertones of the post-conflict agenda.

Paper long abstract:

During Nepal's Movement against Regression (2003-2006) and the 2nd People's Movement (2006), the political demands of student activists were particularly future orientated. The students' involvement in party activism was partially motivated by their struggle to shape a livable present in Nepal's uncertain socio-economic climate. Activism allowed them to postpone their economic and social aspirations toward a future when they might be realized, intertwining their personal aspirations with the political aspirations of the democratic movement. Being actively involved in shaping the course of their country gave them hope. They expected their envisioned future would materialize if a cease-fire were brokered, the democratically elected government was reinstituted, the monarchy was ousted, and a secular, democratic republic was established. This has all been achieved. But yet, little of their aspirations nor the publics' expectations have been realized in the last seven years of state reconstruction. This paper uses these student activists' experience as a case study to examine what happens when the future for which people have fought does not actualize as they hoped. What does it mean for a population to continue in a suspended state of waiting when their political demands are continually deferred? How does postponing shape their subjective experience of post-conflict? How is the affective mode of their temporal orientation altered when it is no longer a proactive strategy? I question whether the experience of waiting, with little opportunity to affect the political outcome, corresponds with the progressive undertones of the post-conflict agenda being promoted by multi-lateral agencies.

Paper short abstract:

The paper attempts to critically engage with the issue of Halal certification in Post War Sri Lanka to understand critical questions on the Muslim factor, the politics of ‘othering’, trust deficit, reconciliation and the nature of majoritarian state.

Paper long abstract:

The issue of Halal certification in a post war environment in Sri Lanka provides an interesting analytical lens to understand critical questions on 'othering', insecurity, trust deficit and competing nationalisms among different ethno-religious groups and specifically on the Muslim factor in post war Sri Lanka. The analysis assumes relevance from the standpoint of debates on reconciliation and the politics of majoritarian state in post war Sri Lanka.

The available literature in IR largely remains divorced from 'politics of food' and 'politicization of food' and more importantly on how it can speak to broader indicators of trust, security, state and reconciliation.

This paper will attempt to interrogate the case of Halal certification in Sri Lanka from four critical standpoints: How has the case of Halal certification contributed to a process of dehumanization and 'othering' in an already polarized Sri Lanka? What are the motives for this process of 'othering ' and dehumanization both at the grass root and political level? How is the case of Halal certification in Sri Lanka linked to trust deficit, security dilemma, competing nationalisms? What is the relevance of critical posturing by State and civil society on Halal certification to the debates on reconciliation in post war Sri Lanka?

Paper short abstract:

This paper explores women's engagement in post-war negotiation processes in the creation of post-war order, authority and legitimacy, therefore, addresses women's status in everyday politics amid new political arrangements in Nepal in transition.

Paper long abstract:

The advantageous opportunities gained by women aftermath a decade long conflict in the wake of new political arrangements has gathered heightened attention and controversy in recent years. There are critics that high rise in macro-level indicators of gender empowerment as shown by SIGI index 2012 has not ensured women's voices in decision making positions. There are chances that the gained empowerment could relapse in the context of prolonged post-conflict transition which has been visible in cases of women combatants. To understand micro-level post- war politics and order is important because it has a direct impact on women's meaningful participation in decision making processes. Therefore, , this paper explores women's position and role in practices of consensus and contestation, and questions the forms of authority and performative registers of dissent and harmony, protest and loyalty in everyday politics. The study is grounded empirically with examples of local community user groups from 2010-2013. The paper argues that although the new transitional political arrangement has brought women in the forefront of decision making bodies, the local political space is still gendered and guided by power relations in new transitional arrangements which are discriminatory for women. This has greater effect on both the participation and decision making power of women. Therefore, compromise/decision made by women usually is uninformed, unintended and guided by the male leaders of the VDC.

Keywords: Women, Gender, Governance, Compromise, Decision Making, Participation

Paper short abstract:

Sri Lankan democracy was hailed as a ‘model’ in the early years but of late there has been a strong critique of Sri Lankan democracy and some consider Sri Lankan democracy as a failure. This paper asks the important question as to why it has suffered constants sets backs.

Paper long abstract:

Sri Lanka has long been the subject of much scholarly attention among students of politics, anthropology and history for its supposedly well-functioning democracy in the early years, although some studies did challenge from the outset, the view that Sri Lanka was a 'model' democracy. However, in recent times, Sri Lanka has been depicted as a failure of democracy both in academic and policy circles. Generally, the critiques have focused on a multitude of issues including, but not limited to, human rights, minority rights, rule of law, independence of the judiciary, corruption, nepotism, abuse of state power in elections and many others. Post war, the discourse of human rights violations have added further fuel to the critique of democracy in Sri Lanka. There have been strong demands for greater accountability and transparency on the part of the Sri Lankan government. The most important question this paper tries to address is why democracy suffers constants set backs in Sri Lanka despite reasonably long history of democracy in the country as well as much appreciated better performance in the young years of its democracy. Although many studies of the democracy in Sri Lanka have been rich and deep, there is a sharp gap of understanding why Sri Lankan democracy is currently ailing. This paper explores both the peculiar manner in which Sri Lankan democracy has functioned over the decades and public response to the same and advances several potential explanatory factors for the said malfunctioning.

Paper short abstract:

Bringing together ethnographic evidence from mid-Western Nepal and eastern Sri Lanka, this article explores how political legitimacy is constructed and contested in post-war environments.

Paper long abstract:

Bringing together ethnographic evidence from mid-Western Nepal and eastern Sri Lanka, this article explores how political legitimacy is constructed and contested in post-war environments. The two regions are marked by a history of violence and rebel rule. In post-war transition, authority is in a sense 'up for grabs', because previous patterns of rule and legitimacy can no longer be taken for granted.The article makes two inter-linked arguments. Firstly, post-war transition in both contexts encompasses a silencing form of pacification through strategies such as abeyance and the construction of 'transition' as a liminal period. Fundamental political issues are suppressed, neutralised or postponed, be it under the rubric of consensus or through the nationalist bravado of a triumphant government. Secondly, the end of military confrontation and the disappearance of the 'parallel' governance of the ethno-separatist or Maoist insurgents opens up space for new politicians, and re-opens a space for old ones. While the political muscle of these brokers clearly impressed our respondents - 'they are like Spiderman to the people' - it was also clear that these politicians faced challenges in tapping into the larger registers of political legitimacy: pro-poor (Nepal) and pro-minority (Sri Lanka) reforms. The need to both advocate people's rights and to deliver material welfare makes the construction of political legitimacy a highly paradoxical affair. In different ways, our case studies suggest that post-war democracy encompasses both a curtailment of "the political" and an intensification of "politics".