In the midst of unprecedented economic and political upheaval in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka is working to support its path toward recovery after securing an IMF bailout last year. Yet, these compounding crises draw on a history of contested social, political, and economic decisions, including responses to the 2020 Easter Bombings and a decades long armed conflict that ended in 2009. Resistance to governance and decisionmaking have taken many forms. Who has led this recovery, how has it fallen short, and who has been historically left out of this process?
Join us for the first session of our series “Crisis in Sri Lanka” which will feature the following three speakers: Mario Arulthas, Madura Rasaratnam, & Kate Cronin-Furman.
Mario Arulthas is a PhD candidate in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS, University of London. He worked in international advocacy related to Tamil political issues, transitional justice and human rights protection for several years, before his doctoral studies at SOAS. He has published several op-eds on the Tamil question, including for Al Jazeera, The Wire, Middle East Eye, Himal Magazine, and The Diplomat.
Madura Rasaratnam is a senior lecturer in Comparative Politics at City, University of London. She was previously a lecturer at the University of Kent, Canterbury and has also taught at the LSE and SOAS. She specializes in comparative politics, conflict, conflict management and international interventions, with a regional focus on South Asia, specifically India and Sri Lanka.
Kate Cronin-Furman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at University College London and Director of the Human Rights MA program. She also has a Juris Doctor and has practiced law in New York, Cambodia, and The Hague. Her research focuses on human rights and on the prevention and punishment of mass atrocities.
Chair: Eric Beerbohm, Professor of Government and Faculty Director of the Safra Center
