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…
Sri Lanka presidential election: From citizens’ protests to regime change
Jayadeva Uyangoda
The election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake as Sri Lanka's president on September 21 is an event of historic significance...
The Show
Natasha Ranawake
“That's all, ladies and gentlemen, that's all. Come again to the greatest show on earth. Bring the children. Bring the...
Political Parties in the Mirror of the 2024 Presidential Election in Sri Lanka
Jayadeva Uyangoda and Pradeep Peiris
“Democracy is unthinkable without political parties”, a US political scientist once said (Schattschneider: 1942). He...
The Empathic Sinhala Short Story: Gahaniyak by Martin Wickramasinghe
Jayadeva Uyangoda
In participating in this celebration to mark the centenary of the publication of Martin Wickramasinghe’s short story...
Decoding the Indian Elections: Class, Caste, and Social Exclusion
Roshni Kapur
IntroductionA variety of opinions and commentaries explaining the Indian ruling party’s average performance in the...
2024 Presidential Election: Two-Cornered, Three-Way Fight
Pradeep Peiris
After weeks of hullabaloo, the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) has nominated Namal Rajapaksa as their candidate for...
Current Issue
120 pages of analysis and perspective including: Sri Lanka’s elections, politics, and parties; ‘settler tourism’ in the wake of the Gaza genocide; the spaces of the Aragalaya; child marriages and their miseries in the East; gendering climate-adaptation projects in agriculture; the ‘hidden politics’ of critical agrarian studies; Europe’s far right and its battery of women’s rights; Martin Wickramasinghe and the Sinhala short story; trans-gendered lives amidst war, violence, and displacement; South Asia’s debt crisis is missing collective action; India’s general election; race, class and multiculturalism in Hanif Kureishi’s work; and some favourite books in 2024.
Vol. 12, Issue 2 (December 2024) is now available for LKR 500, from the Social Scientists’ Association and Barefoot bookshop, Colombo 3.
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Archive
Pravada (1991-2002) and Polity (2003-) back issues available here.
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.