At the point of independence in 1948, Sri Lanka was projected to be a success story in the developing world. However, in July 1983 a violent ethnic conflict which pitted the Sinhalese against the Tamils began, and did not come to an end until 2009. This conflict led to nearly 50,000 combatant deaths and approximately 40,000 civilian deaths, as well as almost 1 million internally-displaced refugees and to the permanent migration abroad of nearly 130,000 civilians. With a focus on Sri Lanka, this book explores the political economy of ethnic conflict, and examines how rival political leaders are able to convince their ethnic group members to follow them into violent conflict. Specifically, it looks at how political leaders can influence and utilize changes in the level of economic liberalization in order to mobilize members of a certain ethnic group, and in the case of Sri Lanka, shows how ethnic mobilization drives can turn violent when minority ethnic groups are economically marginalized by the decisions that the majority ethnic group leaders make in order to stay in power. Taking a political economy approach to the conflict in Sri Lanka, this book is unique in its historical analysis and provides a longitudinal view of the evolution of both Tamil and Sinhalese ethnic drives. As such, this interdisciplinary study will be of interest to policy makers as well as academics in the field of South Asian studies, political science, sociology, development studies, political economy and security studies.

As ethnic groups clash, the international community faces the challenge of understanding the multiple causes of violence and formulating solutions that will bring about peace. Allowing for greater insight, Jesse and Williams bridge two sub-fields of political science in Ethnic Conflict—international relations and comparative politics. They systematically apply a "levels of analysis" framework, looking at the individual, domestic, and international contexts to better explore and understand its complexity. Five case study chapters apply the book’s framework to disputes around the world and include coverage of Bosnia, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, and Sudan. Never losing sight of their analytical framework, the authors provide richly detailed case studies that help students understand both the unique and shared causes of each conflict. Students will appreciate the book’s logical presentation and excellent pedagogical features including detailed maps that show political, demographic, and cultural data.

The Political Economy of Conflict and Violence against Women shows how political, economic, social and ideological processes intersect to shape conflict related gender-based violence against women. Through feminist interrogations of the politics of economies, struggles for political power and the gender order, this collection reveals how sexual orders and regimes are linked to spaces of production. Crucially it argues that these spaces are themselves firmly anchored in overlapping patriarchies which are sustained and reproduced during and after war through violence that is physical as well as structural. Through an analysis of legal regimes and structures of social arrangements, this book frames militarization as a political economic dynamic, developing a radical critique of liberal peace building and peace making that does not challenge patriarchy, or modes of production and accumulation.

Through an examination of the critical junctures in post-colonial Sri Lanka, Kenneth D. Bush refines and advances our understanding of the dynamics underpinning violent and non-violent 'ethnic' conflict. The book enables us to understand how the ebb and flow of relations within ethnic groups affects relations between groups, for good or for ill.

This work brings together a collection of original essays on the contemporary study of international political economy (IPE). It provides contrasting and challenging interpretations of the study of IPE and the global political economy in general. It also exposes the reader to major issues and problems in international political economy such as European unification, U.S.-Japanese trade tensions, Africa's role in the world economy, international debt, and international financial reform. A cross-section of viewpoints provide challenging and insightful analyses of the major contemporary issues in international political economy. The volume will be of interest to scholars and students of international relations, political economy, and political science.

The nine essays collected here examine ethnic relations, discrimination, and affirmative action in different regions of the world. The contributors focus throughout on the political economy of ethnic relations - an area that has until now been largely neglected in the literature. Written by economists, the papers both offer theoretical and empirical insights into standard neoclassical models of discrimination and explore in depth the historical and institutional features of the specific cases under study. Six of the papers address discrimination and affirmative action in developing countries; the remaining essays examine the problem as it has been manifested in socialist states. The aim throughout is to offer the reader an enhanced understanding of the economic and political genesis of the often catastrophic problems associated with ethnic discrimination. Following a general introduction by the editor, the contributors examine relations between Arabs and Jews in the Israeli labor force; the complex interactions between human rights, affirmative action, and land reform in Latin America; and ethnic relations and the new economic policy in Malaysia. The three additional studies of ethnic problems in developing countries look at apartheid in South Africa, political and economic discrimination in Sri Lanka, and ethnic conflict in the Sudan. Turning to an examination of ethnic discrimination under communism, the contributors analyze the problems faced by gypsies in Eastern Europe, the politics of ethnicity and affirmative action in the Soviet Union, and labor market discrimination and ethnic tension in Yugoslavia. A bibliography is included for those wishing to pursue further research on the subject. By focusing attention on discrimination in regions of the world little studied in past works on ethnic conflict, these essays represent a unique and important contribution to the literature of international economics and political economy.

Study funded by various intergovernmental and international agencies.