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.
DBS Jeyaraj: The Witness in Exile
Ruben Thurairajah
He died in Canada, and the news arrived with a certain administrative neatness, as though it was an update rather than...
Literature and the Politics of Plural Identity, in and beyond Sri Lanka
Nadeera Rajapakse
Two Sri Lankan writers: Antonythasan Jesuthasan in 2026 and Shehan Karunatilaka in 2025, have been awarded in...
Dear Children, Sincerely: Seven Decades of Sri Lanka. Stages Theatre Group. Colombo. 2026.
Shannon Constantine
An ensemble mimes bus passengers and their conductor: some have their arms raised as if grasping bus rails, while...
“Peasant Politics” and the War in Sri Lanka
Benedikt Korf
Agrarian relations can tell us something fundamental about politics.[1] This is what I have learned from the work of...
Gather Up Your World in One Long Breath. S. Shakthidharan. Sydney: Powerhouse, 2025.
Suvendrini Kanagasabai Perera
Some years ago, I contributed a foreword to A Sense of Viidu, an anthology of writing on Tamil diasporic re-creations...
தாயகம் (𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘮 / motherland). Amita Arudpragasam. Harvest Moon, 2026. 76 mins.
Thiruni Kelegama
Thayakam begins with a date: 26 September 2025. The footage that follows is of a crowd, the police somewhere inside...
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.
