S. Janaka Biyanwila – författare

Based on extensive original research, this book examines the challenges confronting trade unions in the global South, by focusing on trade union struggles in Sri Lanka under neo-liberal globalisation. It centres on movement politics of unions; explains union capacities to mobilise workers as a part of broad counter movement; and specifies worker struggles in Sri Lanka.

The author identifies key dimensions of variation in the approaches taken by oppositional groupings, in particular unions, other labour organisations and the labour movement, and locates those variations in a larger theoretical context. Three case studies on trade unions in tea plantations, garment factories and among the nurses show how these theoretical dimensions operate in practice, and the consequences for the sort of opposition that is (and is not) created. The book contributes to the on-going debate on social movement unionism, and it also reveals their gaps in terms of addressing how class injustices are mediated through ethno-nationalist projects reproducing ethnic and gender hierarchies. It acknowledges the diversity of experiences and forms of resistance in the global South and critically engages with issues of gender, ethnicity and labour internationalism, providing a useful contribution to studies on South Asian Politics as well as Labour and Development Studies.

Based on extensive original research, this book examines the challenges confronting trade unions in the global South, by focusing on trade union struggles in Sri Lanka under neo-liberal globalisation. It centres on movement politics of unions; explains union capacities to mobilise workers as a part of broad counter movement; and specifies worker struggles in Sri Lanka.

The author identifies key dimensions of variation in the approaches taken by oppositional groupings, in particular unions, other labour organisations and the labour movement, and locates those variations in a larger theoretical context. Three case studies on trade unions in tea plantations, garment factories and among the nurses show how these theoretical dimensions operate in practice, and the consequences for the sort of opposition that is (and is not) created. The book contributes to the on-going debate on social movement unionism, and it also reveals their gaps in terms of addressing how class injustices are mediated through ethno-nationalist projects reproducing ethnic and gender hierarchies. It acknowledges the diversity of experiences and forms of resistance in the global South and critically engages with issues of gender, ethnicity and labour internationalism, providing a useful contribution to studies on South Asian Politics as well as Labour and Development Studies.

The first detailed account in English of an unprecedented moment in Sri Lanka’s history, Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka chronicles the 2022 popular uprising where mass protests forced the country’s autocratic president to flee.

Exploring how the uprising, triggered by a debt crisis, relates to deeper problems of democracy, civil war and development, Janaka Biyanwila challenges numerous misunderstandings about the protests and uncovers how global financial markets and platform economies contributed to the upheaval. Locating the crisis within Global North-South dynamics, Biyanwila outlines how market-driven economic growth strategies restrain public involvement in decision making while asserting ethno-centric collective identities and hypermasculine cultures. Framing citizenship as well as justice in terms of cultural recognition, economic redistribution and political representation, chapters foreground the role of democratic social movements that encourage artistic engagement and collective learning as central for renewing citizenship as well as democracy. Reimagining development that embeds Global Production Networks within local communities and rethinking democracy across multiple tiers of governance, Biyanwila concludes by shifting his narrative to a broader focus on the Global South, and South Asia specifically.

Fusing the regional with the global, Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka widens its perspective from a distinct, national moment to an international interdependency with the power to ripple across every corner of the globe.

The first detailed account in English of an unprecedented moment in Sri Lanka’s history, Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka chronicles the 2022 popular uprising where mass protests forced the country’s autocratic president to flee.

Exploring how the uprising, triggered by a debt crisis, relates to deeper problems of democracy, civil war and development, Janaka Biyanwila challenges numerous misunderstandings about the protests and uncovers how global financial markets and platform economies contributed to the upheaval. Locating the crisis within Global North-South dynamics, Biyanwila outlines how market-driven economic growth strategies restrain public involvement in decision making while asserting ethno-centric collective identities and hypermasculine cultures. Framing citizenship as well as justice in terms of cultural recognition, economic redistribution and political representation, chapters foreground the role of democratic social movements that encourage artistic engagement and collective learning as central for renewing citizenship as well as democracy. Reimagining development that embeds Global Production Networks within local communities and rethinking democracy across multiple tiers of governance, Biyanwila concludes by shifting his narrative to a broader focus on the Global South, and South Asia specifically.

Fusing the regional with the global, Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka widens its perspective from a distinct, national moment to an international interdependency with the power to ripple across every corner of the globe.