Social Scientists' Association

Newton Gunasinghe’s ‘𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐨-𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞’ and ‘𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐞: 𝐒𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬’ (Ed. Sasanka Perera) are available as SSA publications.

Visit Social Scientists’ Association, 380/86, Sarana Road, Colombo 07 to purchase, or call 0112 501 339 for more information. Drop a WhatsApp message to 0784 575 513 (Ishan) to get these books delivered to your doorstep!

"Disaster relief", writes Shashik Silva (Shashik Dhanushka), "is never just about the money or the process. It is about what people bring with them when they access relief, their memories, their political loyalties, and their sense of who they are in the community."

Shashik Silva | Ditwah Relief Management: Politics and Perceptions in ‘Kolamba Gama’ Shashik Silva is Chief Operations Officer of the Social Scientists’ Association (SSA) and the Quantitative Research Lead for the SSA January 2026 survey on public perceptions of Cyclone Ditwah impact, response and recovery.

In memory of Gananath Obeyesekere, anthropologist and public intellectual, who died on 25 March 2025, Polity magazine published 15 pieces by his former students, colleagues, friends, and admirers, beginning from the anniversary of his birth on 2nd February up to 10th April. We thank them for their contributions, and our readers for their appreciation. This collection will appear in print within Vol. 14, No. 1 (January-June 2026) later this year.

Gananath Obeyesekere - polity.lk In memory of Gananath Obeyesekere, anthropologist and public intellectual, who died on 25 March 2025, Polity magazine published 14 pieces by his former students, colleagues, friends, and admirers, beginning from the anniversary of his birth on 2nd February up to 7th April. We thank them for their co...

In celebration of the life, alignments, and commitments, of the political scientist and historian Kumari Jayawardena, the 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬’ 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚 (𝐒𝐒𝐀) of which she is a founder member and former Secretary, is creating a 𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞 of her scholarship.

The Social Scientists’ Association calls for 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 on the continuing relevance of the multi-disciplinary scholarship of Kumari Jayawardena. Send your pitch (𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟎𝟎 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬) to [email protected] 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝟐𝟐 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.

For more information, visit https://ssalanka.org/kumari-jayawardena-feminist-archive-call-for-engagement/

Jonathan Spencer concludes the Polity Magazine memorial on Gananath Obeyesekere, with a sweep through the 14 preceding pieces, gleaning of a teacher/colleague/friend. In his own appreciation, Spencer writes of Obeyesekere's work as a site of engagement between past and present: whether as collector and of the oral tradition; interpreter of the new and shocking; or moral commentator on contemporary events.

Jonathan Spencer | The Conscience of the Scholar Jonathan Spencer is Emeritus Professor of South Asian Language, Culture and Society at the University of Edinburgh; co-editor (with Harini Amarasuriya, Tobias Kelly, Sidharthan Mounaguru, and Galina Oustinova-Stjepanovic) of The Intimate Life of Dissent: Anthropological Perspectives (2020, London: U...

"A true academic colleague", writes Dennis B. McGilvray of Gananath Obeyesekere, whom he first met in Peradeniya in August 1969, and with whom friendship grew over the decades notwithstanding quarrel over Brahmanical priestly ideology and its influence on Hindu Tamil women in east coast .

Dennis B. McGilvray | Gananath Obeyesekere: Dazzling Scholar of Integrity Dennis B. McGilvray is Professor of Anthropology emeritus at the University of Colorado Boulder, and a past president of the American Institute of Sri Lankan Studies (AISLS). His new book, A House for Every Daughter: Matrilocal Marriage and Dowry in Sri Lanka and South India, is forthcoming from Rut...

On April 02nd, our funders from Digital Democracy Initiative South Asia visited SSA for a monitoring and evaluation session of our ongoing project “𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔: 𝑨 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝑶𝒖𝒓 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆𝒔”. During the visit, we had the opportunity of sharing the progress, interesting outcomes and the feedback from the beneficiaries of the project.

On 27 March, interns of the Young Researchers’ Network (YRN) from the Hill Country visited SSA. We discussed what “research” means, and ways to go about it. They saw our new short documentary on experiences of elections across political generations; and we exchanged anecdotes from field .

Gananath Obeyesekere was not only a brilliant academic but also intellectually fearless and honest, writes feminist scholar Selvy Thiruchandran. Though often criticised by Sinhala nationalists for questioning local myths shaped by ethnocentrism and linguistic , such attacks were, as a Tamil proverb suggests, like barking at the moon. Personal glimpses ranging from fireworks at an ICES seminar in Colombo, to sharing kool and payasam on Dharmaraja Hill in .

Gananath Obeyesekere was not only a brilliant academic but also intellectually fearless and honest, writes feminist scholar Selvy Thiruchandran. Though often criticised by Sinhala nationalists for questioning local myths shaped by ethnocentrism and linguistic , such attacks were, as a Tamil proverb suggests, like barking at the moon. Personal glimpses ranging from fireworks at an ICES seminar in Colombo, to sharing kool and payasam on Dharmaraja Hill in .

https://polity.lk/laughter-debate-and-dissent-personal-glimpses-of-gananath-obeyesekere-selvy-thiruchandran/

“𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭, 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭! : 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 & 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚” Edited by Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda is available as an SSA Publication.

Visit Social Scientists’ Association, 380/86, Sarana Road, Colombo 07 to purchase, or call 0112 501 339 for more information.

Richard F. Gombrich, eminent Indologist and Buddhist Studies scholar, writes of Gananath Obeyesekere whom he first met in Cambridge, England in the mid-1960s: "Whatever other people may think of the work I shall be leaving behind me, the publications which give me most pride and satisfaction I owe largely, not only to what I have learnt from him, but also to his practical help and to his years of encouragement and friendship."

Richard F. Gombrich | A Bridge Between East and West Richard F. Gombrich was Boden Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2004 and is the founder-president of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies; author among other works of Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural Highlands of Ceylon (1971, Oxford: Clarendon P...

The Social Scientists’ Association, in collaboration with Digital Democracy Initiative, facilitated educational materials for school students to broaden democratic identity and understanding, thereby shaping civic identity through visual educational tools and discussion.