Polity aims to advance democratic consciousness, gender equity, state reform, and social change in Sri Lanka, while interested in South Asia and the World.
As its predecessor Pravada (1991-2002), Polity is published by the Social Scientists’ Association in Colombo, with critical content on politics, political economy, history, women, ethnicity, sexualities, religion, labour studies, agrarian relations, nationalisms, violence, ecology, and much more.
‘Dead Catting’: Manufacturing Moral Panic in Sri Lanka
Ruben Thurairajah
In Colombo Fort, tourists stroll past decaying colonial buildings, unaware that the air is thick with invented fear. A...
Family Law and Practice in Sri Lanka: Women’s Declaration
Suriya Women’s Development Centre
The Women’s Declaration on Family Law and Practice was officially submitted to Minister of Women and Child Affairs...
Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism and Political Legitimacy in Contemporary Sri Lanka
Shashik Silva
Cleavage politics has emerged as one of the most defining features of Sri Lanka’s party system and political behaviour...
Man in the Mirror
Ruben Thurairajah
The photograph came first. Ranil Wickremesinghe walks out of the intensive care unit of Colombo’s National Hospital, a...
Chemmani: Where the Soil Speaks, Where Memory Refuses Silence
Sakuna M. Gamage
The wind returns to the streetteeming with life and death. It hesitates a littleas it crosses the bridge. This wind...
Stirring the Hornet’s Nest: The NPP’s Education Reforms
Niyanthini Kadirgamar
Estate primary school in disused century-old tea plantation factory building Education occupies a special place in the...
Current Issue
Vol. 14 No. 1 (January – June 2026). 134 pages. Gananath Obeyesekere Memorial. NPP and Neutrality. Iran Solidarity. Justice for Easter Sunday. Chemmani. Cyclone Ditwah. Flood Relief. Microfinance Bill. Peasant Politics. Lunar Calendar. Partitions. Women’s Health. Malaiyaha History. Diasporic memory. Mannar’s ecology. Aloysius Peiris SJ. Cover image Ranjini Obeyesekere. LKR1000 from the Social Scientists’ Association or Barefoot or SLBOOKS.lk.
Archive
Pravada (1991-2002) and Polity (2003-) back issues available here.
Social Scientists’ Association
The Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) was founded in 1977, at a turning point in Sri Lankan politics, economy, and society, marked by among other aspects: the ‘open economy’ market reforms; deepening ethnic conflict; and the growing concentration of executive power. Its initiators were academics from public universities, seeking an autonomous space to grapple with these shifts; and to promote progressive political, economic, and social change.
