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Radical Monks and Rajapaksa: An Overview of Right-Wing Politics in Sri Lanka

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Interdisciplinary Reflections on South Asian Transitions
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Abstract

The chapter documents the transformation of Sri Lankan politics and society. The peaceful, inclusive nature of early independent Sri Lanka quickly faded and later escalated into a protracted civil war led by the politics of ethnic nationalism. The adoption of populist rhetoric and politics of ring wing nationalism in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, populist majoritarianism mostly coincided with linguistic and ethnic identity (Sinhalese/Sinhala); however, over time the movement increasingly adopted Buddhist nationalism as well.

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Correspondence to Andrea Malji .

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Malji, A. (2023). Radical Monks and Rajapaksa: An Overview of Right-Wing Politics in Sri Lanka. In: Nayak, B.S., Chakraborty, D. (eds) Interdisciplinary Reflections on South Asian Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36686-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36686-4_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36685-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-36686-4

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

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