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.
Structural Adjustment of Women’s Labour in Agriculture in Sri Lanka
Buddhima Padmasiri
Women’s empowerment through employment is not a new focus for international financial institutions and development...
Meaning and Critique in Women’s Narratives of Care and Work
Nadia Augustyniak
Arguments about the economic benefits of women’s labour participation go hand in hand with assumptions about the...
Statement by academics on dealing with Sri Lankan debt, January 2023
Sri Lanka, along with many other low- and middle-income countries, has experienced a series of financial shocks due to...
Resisting the Nationalist Right’s Framing of the Economic Alternative
Devaka Gunawardena
Given the design of the Budget for 2023, it is unlikely that Sri Lanka’s working people will see relief anytime soon....
“The Disaster (Before and) After the Disaster”: Writing the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami
Gnei Soraya Zarook
The Indian Ocean tsunami that was triggered on December 26, 2004[i], killed approximately 35,000 people in Sri Lanka,...
Unpaid Care Work is Work
Sepali Kottegoda
Caring for household members. Well-being of the family. Putting food on the table. Washing clothes. Making ends meet....
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.