Changing Patterns of anthroPology and soCiology PraCtiCes in sri lanka in the Context of debates on northern and southern theory
Journal Title: Social Affairs - Year 2014, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
Former British colony Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) developed the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya as a model for the region. Its academic staff in the Social Sciences had their intellectual roots in the British or US traditions of scholarship due to their postgraduate training and research in these countries. Up to the early 1970s, there was a thriving academic atmosphere along with knowledge production and dissemination activities but this started to deteriorate with the socio-economic and political changes, changes in the language of instruction and the composition of the student body. A brain drain contributed to the creation of a different practitioner community of Anthropologists and Sociologists in the universities whose focus was more inward looking. Its links to Western traditions of scholarship also became weaker. Being a participant in this process from early 1970s up to the mid 1980s, the author uses his reflections and experiences to recount the changing nature of Anthropology and Sociology practice, theoretical emphasis, players involved, and the role of two research centres established outside the university system. The paper looks at the views of three Sri Lankan Anthropologists and Sociologists who have expressed concerns about the changing nature of teaching practices and constructed reality in Sri Lankan universities. The author connects these with the ongoing debate about Northern vs. Southern theory and prospects of alternative knowledge production articulated by Raewyn Connell.
Authors and Affiliations
Siri Gamage
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP31404
- DOI -
- Views 419
- Downloads 2
The ImpacT of Job SaTISfacTIon and employee educaTIon on employee effIcIency
Against a backdrop of continuing discussion on the challenges faced by the apparel industry in Sri Lanka, the human involvement is yet to be considered as a signifcant organizational element. Therefore this study empir...
FOR A SUSTAINABLE TRADITION OF RESEARCH IN THE PERADENIYA FACULTY OF ARTS
This paper traces the establishment and subsequent evolution of the University of Peradeniya, particularly in relation to its original mandate as the University of Ceylon. In this regard, it focuses on the most signifc...
YOUTH ASPIRATIONS, SOCIAL MOBILITY AND EDUCATIONAL TARGET ACHIEVEMENT IN SRI LANKA
This study attempts to identify how young students set educational targets in major competency levels of their education namely, GCE Ordinary Level (O/L), GCE Advanced Level (A/L), First Degree and Post-Graduate level,...
THE STORY OF TWO DEPARTMENTS: PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY
The present article attempts to capture a glimpse of the path of Philosophy in the University of Ceylon during its 75 years of existence. Philosophy was among the subjects that were in the curriculum of the Faculty of...
THE ORIGIN, DEVELOPMENT, AND CURRENT PERSPECTIVES ON ARCHAEOLOGY
In the early decades of the 20th century, archaeology was introduced as a subject in Pirivena education which mainly consisted of a segment of epigraphy. In the 1950s, the Department of History, University of Ceylon of...