Polity aims to advance democratic consciousness, gender equality, 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.
Obeyesekere the Dreamer: Visionary Journeys in Anthropology
Anushka Kahandagamage
I remember vividly one pattern in my youthful dreams repeated time and again, without too much variation, that of...
Gananath Obeyesekere: The Anthropologist and the Historian
John D. Rogers
I first met Gananath at the Annual Conference of the Association for Asian Studies in Washington DC in March 1984,...
The Creation of the Hunter. The Vädda Presence in the Kandyan Kingdom: A Re-Examination. Gananath Obeyesekere. Colombo: Sailfish, 2022.
R. S. Perinbanayagam
Robert Siddharthan Perinbanayagam died on 5 November 2025 in New York City where he lived most of his life. Born in...
‘Guru-Ship’: An Epistemological Turn in My Anthropological Education
Sanmugeswaran Pathmanesan
This paper narrates the epistemological shift that took place in my anthropology learning journey, mapping how the...
Gananath: Renaissance Man
R. L. Stirrat
I met Gananath in July 1969 on the day I first arrived in Sri Lanka, Edmund Leach and Stanley Tambiah having imposed...
A Critical History of Women’s Health in Modern Sri Lanka. Darshi Thoradeniya. Orient BlackSwan (New Delhi), 2024.
Carmen Wickramagamage
Darshi Thoradeniya’s book, A Critical History of Women’s Health in Modern Sri Lanka, unearths the submerged and...
Current Issue
Out Now! Vol. 13 No. 2 (July – December 2025). 148 pages. #SriLanka. Politics. Cyclone Ditwah. Ecology. Feminism. Education. Justice. Domestic Violence Act. History. Culture. Work. Labour. Books. Cover Picture Sakuna M. Gamage. LKR1000 from the Social Scientists’ Association or Barefoot or SLBOOKS.lk.
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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.