Marginal placeholders: peasants, paddy and ethnic space in Sri Lanka’s post-war frontier

Journal article

This study explores the political significance of peasant identities, rice cultivation and land struggles in the context of civil war. It comprises two agrarian settlements in Sri Lanka's former war zone: a state-sponsored Sinhala settlement colony (Weli Oya) and a village formerly ruled by the Tamil insurgency (Sampur). We conceptualise both communities as ‘marginal placeholders’ positioned in Sri Lanka's embattled Dry Zone frontier. Their contentions, and the elite support for their contentions, make little sense in terms of material gain or agrarian surplus. We therefore argue that they must be understood as territorial struggles over ethnic space, rival sovereign claims, peasant ideology and cultural purification. Marginal placeholders are fielded to secure politically strategic territory, but ironically their marginality is reproduced in the process.

Authors: Klem, B; Kelegama, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Routledge
• Journal: Journal of Peasant Studies
• Volume: 47
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 346-365
• Publication date: 2019-03-29
• DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2019.1572604
• EISSN: 1743-9361
• ISSN: 0306-6150
• Language: English
• Keywords: ethnic nationalism; Sri Lanka; civil war; peasantry; frontier; territory