HIS 3272 History of Colonialism in Sri Lanka II
Course Description:
This course addresses the structural changes that came about under British domination from the 1832 Colebrook-Cameron reforms up to the independence in 1948. Hence, this course discusses issues such as the emergence of new identities and identity politics, new religious practices and their consequences, landscape changes and ordering the space, economic changes and consequences, major political reforms and communities in conflict, and the move from communal representation to universal suffrage and the consequent entrenchment of majoritarianism at independence.
Learning Objectives:
The main objective of this course is equipping students with a sufficient knowledge to understand the impact of the British colonial period in shaping the contemporary history of Sri Lanka. The course also expects to give students a comprehensive understanding of the structural changes that took place during this time and how the colonised grasped these changes and constructed their own ideological viewpoints.
Learning Outcomes:
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
• Explain, compare and contrast the various point of views presented in colonial, nationalist and post nationalist historiography of the British colonial period.
• Outline the main changes that occurred during the British period and deconstruct popular Recommended Readings of the said period
• Detect the structural changes of the British colonial period along with the changing time, space and structure
Course Content
1. 1832 Colebrook-Cameron reforms
2. The changing landscape
3. Imperial rule and early indigenous responses
4. Shaping the community identity
5. Constructing ‘Authentic’ national identity and procedural democracy in the colonial period
6. Elite formation, rise of nationalism and local politics
7. Print capitalism and local readership
8. Debates on economic changes
9. Commercialisation of the economy and its impact on society
10. Structural changes and their impact on women in colonial society
11. Consequences of migrations
12. Land policy and colonisation in the dry zone
13. Organised labour and the Leftist movement
14. Decolonisation
Assessment:
Attendance 10%
Midterm Test or Assignment 30%
Final Exam 60%
Recommended Readings:
Bandarage, A. (1985) Colonialism in Sri Lanka: the political economy of the Kandyan Highlands, 1833-1886, Colombo: Lake House Publications.
Bandarage, A. (1998) omen and Social Change in Sri Lanka, Colombo: Karunaratna & Sons.
De Silva, K. M. (ed. in chief) (1973), University of Ceylon-History of Ceylon Volume III, Colombo: The Colombo Apothecaries Ltd.
De Silva, S. B. D. (1982) The Political Economy of Underdevelopment, London: Routledge & Kgan Pul Pc.
Wickramasinghe, N. (2006) Sri Lanka in the Modern Age, Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publishers.
Jayawardena, K. (2000) Nobodies to Somebodies, Colombo: SSA and Sanjive Books.
Jayawardena, K. (1986) Feminism and Nationalism in the Third world, Colombo: Sanjiva Books.