The political geography of war's end: Territorialisation,circulation, and moral anxiety in Trincomalee,Sri Lanka

This article argues that territorialisation and circulation are centrally important to the transition that takes place at the end of a war. It does so with a case study of Trincomalee, a multiethnic region on Sri Lanka's east coast, after the end of the ethno-separatist war in 2009. Post-war territorialisation comprises the consolidation of the government's military victory through the establishment of military zones and sacred sites, the construction of strategic roads and shifts in the ethnic settlement patterns. There are, however, a number of contingent counter-forces that unsettle the common interpretation that this is orchestrated 'Sinhala colonisation'. The angle of circulation directs us to flows and influences that become manifest when the curtailment of war (checkpoints, frontlines, collapsed infrastructure, surveillance) comes to an end. This propels a peace dividend - access, security, mobility - but also incites concerns among all ethnic communities about exposure to the moral decay of a globalised world. While territorialisation and circulation may appear to be opposites, they are in fact a conceptual pair. The two terms expose a field of tension that has much to contribute to the geographical literature on war endings, which has neglected the significance of postwar shifts in circulation thus far.     

The trauma of war rape: A comparative view on the Bosnian conflict and the Greek civil war

This paper explores the practice and the political context of war rapes in the former Yugoslavia (1992-1995) and in the Greek Civil War (1946-1949). It argues that conceptions about accountability and expected gender roles may lead social actors to commit atrocities that transgress the moral codes of their own society, while condemning their victims to silence. On the other hand, a change in the political context may undermine the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators and ultimately lead war rape victims to break their silence and bear witness. This argument is illustrated by a detailed analysis of one particular interview, in which a woman raped during the Greek Civil War decided to break her silence fifty years after the event. The interview material offers the opportunity to explore the effects of trauma and the multiple ways in which war rape victims may try to cope with past trauma and give meaning to a shattered life.     

斯里兰卡的冶铁考古

介绍了斯里兰卡20世纪80年代以来冶铁考古研究所取得的成就。古代斯里兰卡的铁产品主要是块炼铁和高碳钢,冶铁技术主要有阿腊口腊瓦瓦的自然通风竖炉和以季风为鼓风动力的撒马纳腊瓦瓦开放性矮炉两种,可能与缅甸的自然通风竖炉、日本的踏踏拉以及西非的多哥兰地区抽风式竖炉存在某些历史联系。     

Unsettled peace? The territorial politics of roadbuilding in post-war Sri Lanka

This paper analyses the role of roadbuilding as a process of state territorialisation in post-war Sri Lanka. In the aftermath of a brutal civil war (1983–2009), and in lieu of a broader peace and reconciliation process between Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities, road infrastructure has been promoted by the state as essential to the region's recovery and nation's sovereignty. Roads were to bring national unity and political integration. We interrogate such claims, drawing on fieldwork conducted in Jaffna and neighbouring areas to cast doubt on the prospects of new roads to ameliorate ethnic tensions. Rather, as militarised security discourses and policies continue to dominate the Sri Lankan public sphere, such schemes can be understood as part of broader Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist project to consolidate territorial control in restive parts of the country. Our research suggests that, rather than facilitating rehabilitation and recovery, road networks mirror pre-existing fault lines and entrench the privileged position of the military in Sri Lankan society. Such shifts do little to avail persistent minority sentiments of political marginalisation, aggravating social fractures and re-constituting the hegemony of Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism.     

Imperial Inspections: Archaeology,War and Violence

The political-ethical complexities of archaeological work have led to this publication of a theme issue that attempts to critically consider our privileged positions as scholars, but also the limitations of our work in the context of violent conflicts. At the same time these papers show how practical remedial initiatives sought for distressing situations in which archaeologists may find themselves can often only intensify the problems.     

‘Ariane's Thread’: Sri Lankan Census Superintendents’ Reports as Guides to Identity Data

National censuses collect, classify and tabulate vast quantities of personal data on a regular basis. The resultant numerical tables require analysis and interpretation. It has been the census superintendents, charged with the collection and processing of the data, who made the first comments on their work. Their reports provide guides for users seeking to make sense of the complex numerical tabulations. An examination of the reports on the censuses of Sri Lanka demonstrates the evolution of the census superintendents’ approaches to the collection and presentation of data on ethnicity, religion and language. The classification schemes developed in the early colonial censuses have been retained, with modifications, until the present. Continuity and change are documented in the official commentaries, which have acted as guides to make the results, and the reasoning behind them, more accessible to those who not only filled in the questionnaires, but also used the statistics.