Development in Sri Lanka and the structural Genocide of the Eelam Tamils
09 APRIL 2014 BY ATHITHAN JAYAPALAN 
Development is a rather ambiguous term lacking clear definition; nevertheless it holds positive connotations to rehabilitation, progress, prosperity and wealth. Subsequently it is propagated with such values in the discourses of international neo-liberalism and national modernization. What is not illuminated in such state -corporate centered narrations is that the nature of the very development supposedly in benefit of locals is often directed by extra-local power holders. In order to understand the implications of extra-local decision making it is necessary to remember that development is not implemented in a vacuum but within the context of larger socio-political and historical processes. For these very reasons development has therefore neither been apolitical nor neutral and demands critical assessment.
© JDS
Athithan Jayapalan is a student in social anthropology and studied in Oslo and Pondicherry universities. Born in Jaffna, he currently lives in Oslo, Norway.
© JDS