Intergroup and identity dynamics in response to post-war policies in Sri Lanka

Résumé 0

This thesis examines the continuation of identity based politics in post-war Sri Lanka in relation to the country’s current trends in reparative, social and retributive justice policy. Based on arguments made on ethnic identity and its intricate relationships with political power and violence, this study aspires to highlight a social psychological reading of the differed social realities that have been created around transitional justice processes among the country’s Sinhalese and Tamil ethnicities, with potential implications on future intergroup relations between them. It hypothesizes collective victimization, an important component of ethnic identity, to impact differently the social realities of the general public in relation to transitional justice and also hypothesizes varied collective ethnic group reactions as a consequence of such differed realities, making predictions on future intergroup relations between the asymmetric power groups, the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils, that were quite recently engaged in protracted conflict. Through such an analysis, this thesis hopes to highlight the rather strategic and selective approach adopted by the Sri Lankan state in implementing transitional justice policies continuing to heighten ethnic group identities instead of de-heightening them, maintaining a post-war climate of identity politics. Three empirical studies presented within this thesis each investigate differed social realities surrounding reparative, social and retributive justice in relation to three chronologically important post-war political outcomes within Sri Lanka’s socio-political and economic discourse. Study 1 analyses public perceptions that underlie mass infrastructure development that has taken place following Sri Lanka’s civil war while study 2 analyses public perceptions underling collective action participation in relation to social justice demands following the war. Study 3 analyses public perceptions and support towards accountability for human rights violation committed during the country’s recent troubled past.