Essays

These essays reflect some of my first impressions upon beginning to work in Sri Lanka. In some senses they are quite naïve but I think they convey some of my feelings of awe, inspiration and confusion at this rich, complex society. They also chart the beginning of what have now become key concerns in my intellectual work: questions of how to bridge the divide and really listen to the people who have often been ignored; how this listening might help develop new ways of understanding what politics, rights, social justice look like; and at the same time understanding the limits of certain dominant, often colonial forms of knowledge that have demonstrated themselves inadequate to really address social problems and needs.