Nation, Nationalism and Crucial Factors behind the Failure of the Civic Nation-Building Campaign in Sri Lanka: 1994-2001

Abstract

Sri Lanka formally became a modern nation-state after Independence in 1948, but the process of integrating people belonging to various ethnic communities as a single civic nation was still in the early stage by this time, due to the absence of a successful nation-building program. Instead of making a civic nation, many leaders of the two main ethnic communities, i.e. the Sinhalese and the Tamils, became involved in promoting distinct ethnocentric national identities, inspired by nationalism and compelled by structural changes, engendered by the modernization program of the British. Meanwhile, some leaders attempted to accomplish the task of making a civic nation; the campaign initiated by the Peoples Alliance government in 1994 can be regarded as the most remarkable program focused on this goal. This study investigates reasons behind the failure of this program with a view to developing a set of recommendations for another effort.