Hegemonic Populism: Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Populism in Contemporary Sri Lanka

Pasan Jayasinghe

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Chapter 10 Hegemonic Populism: Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Populism in Contemporary Sri Lanka

In: Populism in Asian Democracies

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Pasan Jayasinghe

Pasan Jayasinghe
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 176–196

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004444461_012

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Abstract

Populism has been an important feature of Sri Lankan history which has been marked by frequent populist impulses, dividing ethnicities and leading to a civil conflict that only ended in 2009. This chapter seeks to understand the populist impulses in the country since the conflict ended by theorizing populism in the Sri Lankan context, understanding the forces that utilize populism to their benefit and looking at how populist forces have mobilized in electoral contests. This chapter finds that Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist (sbn) populism intensified over the course of the Rajapaksa regime (2009–15). Despite the lack of a strong populist leader since then, it has retained an active presence in national politics. This leads to the conclusion that sbn populism is a hegemonic force in Sri Lanka, meaning that it is not only perceived as a dream of elites or as driven exclusively by the state but as also actively propagated by actors outside the Sri Lankan state. Efforts for democratic reforms taken between 2015 and 2018 largely being quashed due to sbn populist opposition corroborates this conclusion.

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Populism in Asian Democracies

Features, Structures, and Impacts

Series: Global Populisms, Volume: 1

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004444461

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 18 Dec 2020

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- Social Sciences

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Chapter 10 Hegemonic Populism: Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Populism in Contemporary Sri Lanka

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Populism in Asian Democracies

Features, Structures, and Impacts

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