States, nations, sovereignty : Sri Lanka, India, and the Tamil Eelam Movement

Review `Sumatra Bose performs a rare feat in this volume. Not only does he provide a clear, compelling - indeed, almost riveting - account of the development of the Tamil movement in Sri Lanka and of the ensuing deadly civil war, but he also uses this account to explore the relationship between state power and national consciousness more generally. In reexamining the conventional wisdom about the meaning and priority of `state′ and `nation′, he demonstrates their complex relationship within Sri Lanka and, by implication, elsewhere as well. This book will be profitably read not only by students of South Asia but by anyone concerned with the challenges posed by the new nationalisms to the contemporary state system.′- Professor Lisa Anderson, Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York Product Description "Sumantra Bose captures the discipline, bravery, and ultimacy of the Tiger movement, exemplified by the cyanide capsules fighters carry around their necks." --The Journal of Asian Studies "At a time when obfuscation has become the hallmark of academic writing, this book, with its clear handling of its subject, presents a welcome relief. The theme of the book is one of the most vexed questions of politics and political science--that of nationalism and its relation to the notions of state and sovereignty. . . . In a competently handled study, Sumantra Bose traces the development of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka since the early colonial period. . . . The book is an important addition to contemporary discussions of nationalism--especially in a South Asian context." --Business Standard Momentous developments across the globe have stimulated a major revival of interest in the crisis of the modern juridical state and the phenomenon of mass nationalism; South Asia has proved no exception to this trend. Sumantra Bose examines a substantive case study of the bloody conflict between Sri Lanka′s two major nationalities within a sophisticated and rigorous theoretical and conceptual framework. Arguing that approaches to secessionist movements and violent conflict must transcend the dominant paradigm of ethnicity, he suggests that such conflicts are fundamentally contests between monolithic unitary conceptions of state authority and popular aspirations to sovereignty. The author demonstrates how the policies and actions of the modern, centralized, and hegemonic state (in the case of Sri Lanka, the Sinhala-Buddhist entity) generate mass opposition, which in highly diversified societies often takes the form of ostensibly ethnic national consciousness. Students and scholars of political science, South Asian, ethnic and racial studies, and international relations will find this an insightful and rewarding volume. "The author has advanced a set of persuasive arguments in this lucidly written book which can be profitably read by anyone interested in the challenges posed by new nationalism to the contemporary state systems. . . . Sumantra Bose has made a significant contribution to the literature." -The Administrator About the Author Sumantra Bose is Fellow of the Faculty in the Department of Political Science at Columbia University, New York