Social change and class relations in Sri Lanka

مرکز و کتابخانه مطالعات اسلامی به زبان های اروپایی

منو

" Social change and class relations in Sri Lanka "
Jayantha Perera, U. L.

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Record Number	:	1094671
Doc. No	:	TLets346358
Main Entry	:	Jayantha Perera, U. L.
Title & Author	:	Social change and class relations in Sri Lanka\ Jayantha Perera, U. L.
College	:	University of Sussex
Date	:	1982
student score	:	1982
Degree	:	Ph.D.
Abstract	:	This thesis examines the changing patterns of socialstratification in rural Sri Lanka during the last halfcentury. Two villages were studied for this purpose.Social change in rural Sri Lanka began to accelerateafter 1930 due to two main interrelated processes. Thefirst is the growth of the state and the penetration ofstate agencies into rural areas, which undermined theimportance of purely 'economic' mechanisms of change suchas the development of a market economy and its nationalnexuses. The second is the acceleration of politicaladministration of the public sector especially after 1956.The latter not only had become the pri~ary cause of mostchanges in rural Sri Lanka, but also provided a new dimensionof social stratification in village communities,namely control over government sponsored rural organisationsand links with higher level politicians such as ~embers ofParliarr,ent. The dominance of this new dimension has upsetthe continuity of the 'traditional' dimensions of socialstratification - property ownership and membership inhigher social status groups. At present, the most importantsource of power and 'authority in the village is the abilityto deliver votes to the higher level politicians and theamount of state benefits controlled at the village level,rather than the amount of land owned or the position occupiedin the social status' hierarchy. The new village leadershipis deeply politicised and the leaders come from differentsocio-economic backgrounds. Their power in the village istemporary and unstable as they are vulnerable to nat!onallevel political changes, to their rivals' intrigues and totheir own colleagues' cut-throat competition for power. Thegroups they lead are factions, rather than social classes.
Subject	:	Sociology
Added Entry	:	University of Sussex