Polity is a left magazine published by the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) since 2003. We aim to advance democratic consciousness, gender equality, state reform, and social justice in Sri Lanka, while interested in South Asia and the World. Like its predecessor Pravada (1991-
The Hidden Politics of Critical Agrarian Studies: A Reply to Urs Geiser
Tom Brass
In a recent contribution to Polity, Urs Geiser (2023) endorsed Critical Agrarian Studies (CAS), as an approach he...
Editorial: Compass on an Old Course?
Editors
One hundred days have passed since Anura Kumara Dissanayake assumed the presidency of Sri Lanka after the 21 September...
Bapsi Sidhwa (1938-2024): Parsi Pakistani writer between Lahore, Partition, and the US
Arif Azad
Bapsi Sidhwa, who died aged 86 in Houston, Texas on 25 December 2024, was Pakistan’s pioneering woman fiction writer...
The NPP Government and Its Democratic Promise: A Review
Jayadeva Uyangoda
How democratic will the National People’s Power (NPP) government be? How faithful will the NPP leaders…
Best Reads in 2024
Collective
A sinister thread of horror, known and unknown, real and imagined, has connected much of what I have read this year....
Victims or Saviours? Women in Climate Adapted Agriculture Projects in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone
Nethmi Bathige
In recent years, both the government of Sri Lanka as well as national and international development organisations have...
Current Issue

Vol. 12, Issue 1 (June 2024) is now available for LKR500, from the Social Scientists’ Association (380/86, Sarana Road, Colombo 7). Almost 100 pages on #palestine #politics #economy #history #agrarianstudies, and more!
Archive
Polity back issues beginning with Vol. 1 No. 1 (February-March 2003) are available here. The Pravada archive (1991-2002) will be added over time.
News

Social Scientists’ Association
The Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) is an organization working to investigate the way in which social change is contouring the multiple realities faced by communities in Sri Lanka and South Asia. The SSA is deeply committed to promoting a culture of knowledge production that informs and undergirds interventions aimed at achieving social emancipation for marginalized communities.