PolityLK
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politylk.bsky.social
PolityLK
@politylk.bsky.social
49 followers 3 following 110 posts
Polity is a left forum for democracy, feminism, and social change in #SriLanka. Submissions welcome at polity@ssalanka.org

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politylk.bsky.social
PolityLK @politylk.bsky.social · Oct 9
Out Now! Vol. 13, No. 1 (2025), LKR800 from the Social Scientists’ Association and LKR1000 from Barefoot and Vijitha Yapa bookshops.
politylk.bsky.social
In Welewatta, people once coexisted with flooding. Now they fear it. Shashik Silva records the local history of a village on the edge of Colombo, changed by development and consumerism #CycloneDitwah #SriLanka

polity.lk/from-living-...
Shashik Silva | From Living With, to Drowning Under, Floods: A Village Transformed
Shashik Silva is Chief Operating Officer at the Social Scientists’ Association and a resident of Kolonnawa | Welewatta has always flooded. This village in the Kolonnawa Divisional Secretariat (DS), ho...
polity.lk
January 20, 2026 at 5:56 AM
politylk.bsky.social
In solidarity with the people’s uprising in #Iran, we amplify this message by an independent trade union (trans. Sepideh Jodeyri): neither leaders from above; nor reliance on foreign powers or factions of the ruling class, offer genuine freedom, equality, and justice.

polity.lk/iran-solidar...
Editors and Vahed | Iran: Solidarity with popular struggles against poverty, unemployment, discrimination, and repression
Once again, the Iranian people are on the streets against their repressive rulers. Once again, the Islamic Republic has retaliated with extreme violence.
polity.lk
January 16, 2026 at 8:16 AM
politylk.bsky.social
The NPP's vision of governance is neutral to social identity and political power, therefore entrenching already existing inequalities, write the Editors in their closing reflection on #SriLanka in 2025.

polity.lk/governing-in...
Editors | Governing in Anticipation of Backlash | polity.lk
As Sri Lanka reels from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake in his address to the people on 30 November 2025...
polity.lk
January 13, 2026 at 6:35 AM
Reposted by PolityLK
politylk.bsky.social
The regulation of #microfinance in #SriLanka must ensure real protections for women borrowers, stricter oversight of unfair lending & abusive recovery practices, & enforceable safeguards during disasters and emergencies urges #Suriya

polity.lk/review-and-r...
Suriya Women’s Development Centre | Review and Repair Microfinance Authority Bill! Safeguard Women’s Dignity, Livelihoods, and Long-Term Security!
Suriya Women’s Development Centre is a Batticaloa-based gender justice organisation founded in 1990.
polity.lk
January 9, 2026 at 9:53 AM
politylk.bsky.social
The regulation of #microfinance in #SriLanka must ensure real protections for women borrowers, stricter oversight of unfair lending & abusive recovery practices, & enforceable safeguards during disasters and emergencies urges #Suriya

polity.lk/review-and-r...
Suriya Women’s Development Centre | Review and Repair Microfinance Authority Bill! Safeguard Women’s Dignity, Livelihoods, and Long-Term Security!
Suriya Women’s Development Centre is a Batticaloa-based gender justice organisation founded in 1990.
polity.lk
January 9, 2026 at 9:53 AM
politylk.bsky.social
Jayadeva Uyangoda's report-card on Year 1 of the National People's Power (NPP) government, in the backdrop of South Asia's #GenZ-led uprisings, plus a postscript on #CycloneDitwah and forecast of political storms ahead #SriLanka.

polity.lk/jayadeva-uya...
Jayadeva Uyangoda | Year One of the NPP Government: Some Heretical Thoughts
Jayadeva Uyangoda is emeritus professor of political science and public policy at the University of Colombo; and editor of the two-volume Democracy and Democratisation in Sri Lanka: Paths, Trends and ...
polity.lk
January 7, 2026 at 7:30 AM
politylk.bsky.social
As planetary politics roil from US invasion of #Venezuela & kidnap of Maduro & Flores with the aim of robbing its wealth, two past editorials on the unravelling global order: Jan 2023 polity.lk/palestine-an... ; and July 2025 polity.lk/there-is-gre... may be of interest #SriLanka
January 5, 2026 at 9:23 AM
politylk.bsky.social
The Polity Team Wishes Its Readers a Happy New Year!

Top 20 articles read in 2025: polity.lk/top-20-artic...
Top 20 Articles read in 2025 - polity.lk
‘When the Devil Drums, We Dance’: Sex Work and Sexual Violence in Wartime Sri Lanka - Radhika Hettiarachchi
polity.lk
January 2, 2026 at 7:19 AM
politylk.bsky.social
Ponni Arasu, Ameena Hussein, Nubendra Liyanage, Madhubashani Disanayaka Ratnayake, Kalana Senaratne and Praveen Tilakaratne tell us the three top books they read this year. What were your favourites in 2025, and why?

polity.lk/collective-b...
Collective | Best Reads 2025
Ponni Arasu is an independent scholar, activist, expressive arts therapist, translator, and theatre artist. Ameena Hussein is a writer of fiction and non-fiction and the co-founder of the Perera Husse...
polity.lk
December 30, 2025 at 11:12 AM
politylk.bsky.social
The efforts of women in and around the 2022 #Aragalaya to give meaning and substance to the demand for "system change" from a left feminist perspective, are retraced by Chulani Kodikara and Amalini de Sayrah.

polity.lk/chulani-kodi...
Chulani Kodikara and Amalini de Sayrah | Left Feminism in and after the Aragalaya
Chulani Kodikara is a director of the Social Scientists’ Association and an editor of Polity. Amalini de Sayrah is a writer, photo-journalist, and activist.
polity.lk
December 24, 2025 at 9:06 AM
politylk.bsky.social
Samanmali of #DaBinduCollective stood at the intersection of political organising, feminist consciousness-building & working-class struggle. Kumudini Samuel recalls the life of a remarkable activist #SriLanka
polity.lk/kumudini-sam...
Kumudini Samuel | Samanmali: A Life on the Frontlines of Women’s Struggles and Working-Class Resistance
Kumudini Samuel is Director (Programs and Research) at the Women and Media Collective and the author of A Hidden History: Women’s Activism for Peace in Sri Lanka 1982-2002 (Colombo: Social Scientists’...
polity.lk
December 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
politylk.bsky.social
From under the rubble of Gaza, in the death rattle of the old order, a new form of justice for the peoples of the world can be built, argues @kirankgrewal.bsky.social in her 2025 Rajani Thiranagama Memorial Lecture #SriLanka

polity.lk/kiran-kaur-g...
Kiran Kaur Grewal | The Im/Possibility of Justice in the Current Global Order
Kiran Kaur Grewal is a human rights lawyer and scholar who is currently Visiting Professor in Gender Studies at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
polity.lk
December 10, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by PolityLK
politylk.bsky.social
#CyloneDitwah laid waste last week. Reflecting on this latest climate calamity, @bskanthakumar.bsky.social invokes @amitav.bsky.social: public education and political will, are crucial in disaster preparedness & saving life #SriLankafloods

polity.lk/b-skanthakum...
B. Skanthakumar | The Great Flood
Balasingham Skanthakumar is with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka and an editor of Polity.
polity.lk
December 5, 2025 at 7:10 AM
politylk.bsky.social
#CyloneDitwah laid waste last week. Reflecting on this latest climate calamity, @bskanthakumar.bsky.social invokes @amitav.bsky.social: public education and political will, are crucial in disaster preparedness & saving life #SriLankafloods

polity.lk/b-skanthakum...
B. Skanthakumar | The Great Flood
Balasingham Skanthakumar is with the Social Scientists’ Association of Sri Lanka and an editor of Polity.
polity.lk
December 5, 2025 at 7:10 AM
politylk.bsky.social
As #CycloneDitwah's aftermath unfolds, humanitarian relief is vital. Amalini De Sayrah has curated a list of mutual aid appeals across #SriLanka. If you can help, please do so —and stay safe. #FloodSriLanka2025

📷: AFP

tinyurl.com/LKfloods25
November 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
politylk.bsky.social
In #SriLanka, history is not the past but perpetual present writes Ruben Thurairajah. Dutugemunu and Prabhakaran as embodiments of Sinhalas & Tamils; each side finding in the other’s hero, the proof of its own wounds.

polity.lk/ruben-thurai...
Ruben Thurairajah | Of Heroes and Villains: Dutugemunu and Prabhakaran
Ruben Thurairajah is a Yorkshire-based general practitioner in England; who also tweets https://x.com/RubenThurairaj and writes https://drruben.substack.com/
polity.lk
November 27, 2025 at 6:36 AM
politylk.bsky.social
Dead. P. Pushpalatha (44), mother-of-two. Production-line worker in a #SriLanka's 'garments without guilt' flagship firm. Ishankha Singha Arachchi reports on the campaign for truth & justice by her family and unions.

polity.lk/ishankha-sin...
Ishankha Singha Arachchi | Dying for the Target
Ishankha Singha Arachchi is an executive committee member of the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union (CMU), and a contributor to the Sunday Observer newspaper.
polity.lk
November 24, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Reposted by PolityLK
politylk.bsky.social
Appraising the first 12 months of the #NPP government, Janaka Biyanwila argues that with mixed success, it has attempted to expand the "politics of the possible" in an unfavourable conjuncture for progressive movements.
polity.lk/janaka-biyan...
Janaka Biyanwila | One Year On: Reading the NPP “From Below and to the Left”
Janaka Biyanwila (PhD., University of Western Australia) is the author most recently of Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka: Citizenship, Development and Democracy Within Global North-...
polity.lk
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 AM
politylk.bsky.social
Appraising the first 12 months of the #NPP government, Janaka Biyanwila argues that with mixed success, it has attempted to expand the "politics of the possible" in an unfavourable conjuncture for progressive movements.
polity.lk/janaka-biyan...
Janaka Biyanwila | One Year On: Reading the NPP “From Below and to the Left”
Janaka Biyanwila (PhD., University of Western Australia) is the author most recently of Debt Crisis and Popular Social Protest in Sri Lanka: Citizenship, Development and Democracy Within Global North-...
polity.lk
November 18, 2025 at 6:08 AM
politylk.bsky.social
"There is no life without nature". Declaration (16.11.2025) of people's movements in Belem opposed to the logic and dynamics of an economic system that prioritises profit and private accumulation of wealth. #COP30

polity.lk/the-peoples-...
The People's Summit | Declaration of the Peoples’ summit towards COP30
We, the Peoples’ Summit, gathered in Belém do Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, from 12 to 16 November 2025, declare to the peoples of the world what we have accumulated in struggles, debates, studies, e...
polity.lk
November 17, 2025 at 6:25 AM
Reposted by PolityLK
politylk.bsky.social
The near doubling of women parliamentarians in #SriLanka owes to the community activism and left-feminism of 𝐺𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑢 𝐴𝑝𝑖 𝐸𝑘𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎 #NPP explains Kaushalya Ariyarathne MP, but challenges persist.

polity.lk/kaushalya-ar...
Kaushalya Ariyarathne | Gehenu Api Eka Mitata: Building a Women’s Political Movement in Sri Lanka
Kaushalya Ariyarathne (PhD., Colombo), a founder-member of the Progressive Women’s Collective, was elected to the parliament of Sri Lanka in November 2024, and appointed Deputy Minister of Mass Media ...
polity.lk
November 4, 2025 at 5:23 AM
politylk.bsky.social
The near doubling of women parliamentarians in #SriLanka owes to the community activism and left-feminism of 𝐺𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑛𝑢 𝐴𝑝𝑖 𝐸𝑘𝑎 𝑀𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑎 #NPP explains Kaushalya Ariyarathne MP, but challenges persist.

polity.lk/kaushalya-ar...
Kaushalya Ariyarathne | Gehenu Api Eka Mitata: Building a Women’s Political Movement in Sri Lanka
Kaushalya Ariyarathne (PhD., Colombo), a founder-member of the Progressive Women’s Collective, was elected to the parliament of Sri Lanka in November 2024, and appointed Deputy Minister of Mass Media ...
polity.lk
November 4, 2025 at 5:23 AM
Reposted by PolityLK
politylk.bsky.social
The protection order interrupts harm but stops there. Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage asks us to re-design #SriLanka's Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA 2005)--from a wall to a safe space for victim-survivors.

polity.lk/prasanna-pit...
Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage | Safety is Not a Wall: Beyond Protection from Domestic Violence
Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage is a senior lecturer in the Department of Integrated Design at the University of Moratuwa and a Chartered Architect.
polity.lk
October 30, 2025 at 6:31 AM
politylk.bsky.social
The protection order interrupts harm but stops there. Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage asks us to re-design #SriLanka's Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA 2005)--from a wall to a safe space for victim-survivors.

polity.lk/prasanna-pit...
Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage | Safety is Not a Wall: Beyond Protection from Domestic Violence
Prasanna Pitigala Liyanage is a senior lecturer in the Department of Integrated Design at the University of Moratuwa and a Chartered Architect.
polity.lk
October 30, 2025 at 6:31 AM
politylk.bsky.social
"Rakesfall is an extraordinary achievement in science fiction, and a titanic work of art.” Congratulations Vajra Chandrasekera ( @vajra.me ) on the award of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction!
polity.lk/vajra-chandr...
Vajra Chandrasekera | “There is nothing inherently liberatory in the imagination, but it must be made so”
Vajra Chandrasekera is a writer from Colombo, Sri Lanka, currently visiting New York as one of the 2025-2026 Fellows of the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers at the New York...
polity.lk
October 28, 2025 at 5:33 AM