Forthcoming Publications

 

The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lanka Diaspora

 

The Sri Lanka diaspora has assumed increasing self-consciousness and importance with successive waves of out-migration from the Indian Ocean island to almost every continent over the last 200 years. Although the Sri Lanka diaspora of the 21st century is primarily a result of the past 30 years of conflict between the State and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, earlier generations of migration from the island during the colonial and early post-colonial period had existed prior to this conflict-induced displacement.

 

With well over a million people of Sri Lankan origin living outside South Asia, The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lanka Diaspora will be significant in documenting the diaspora-consciousness among immigrants and refugees from the island, and will be the first-ever comprehensive study of its kind.

 

The Encyclopedia aims to develop a comprehensive study of the Sri Lanka diaspora as transnational communities and their political, economic and cultural links with the homeland. It will provide a comprehensive analysis of socio-economic and political developments among the diaspora over time and in difference places, and will address core issues of demography, economy, politics, culture and future development. The Encyclopedia will focus on the relationship between culture and economy in the Sri Lanka diaspora in the context of globalisation, increased transnational culture flows and new communication technologies. In addition to the geographic mapping of the Sri Lanka diaspora in the various continents, thematic chapters may include topics on the Sri Lanka diaspora in relation to new information and communication technologies, ‘long distance nationalism’, citizenship, Sinhala, Tamil and Burger disapora identities, religion and the spread of Buddhism, and the Sri Lankan cultural impact.

The Encyclopedia will appeal to all those interested in transnational communities, migration, ethnicity and racial studies in South Asia. It will be along the lines of the highly successful Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora and the Encyclopedia of the Chinese Overseas, which were published in 2006 and 1998 respectively by Editions Didier Millet.