I'm mapping out my scholarly work on this website, to help interested colleagues, students and friends.
My first major research project examined the perpetration and survival of violence. Specifically the July 1983 anti-Tamil violence in Sri Lanka. Overall, the work became an account of how 'violence' emerged as a category in cultural anthropology. Six published articles or book chapters have resulted from that work; they are under revision for publication as a book: The Emergence of Violence: Anthropology and the Political in Postcolonial Sri Lanka.
My second major project, considered the lifeworlds of Sri Lankans that have been turned inside out by decades of war. This was a large scale, multi-sited project I directed at the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo (ICES). Field work for the project has ended; write up is in progress, and some preliminary work has been published. A second book, The Work of Melancholia: Aspects of Nationalism in the Island formerly called Ceylon, will be ready for publication soon.
Scholarly work is often colaborative. I've worked with Kumari Jayawardena, Partha Chaterjee and Qadri Ismail on different projects; but much of my work as been an ongoing conversation with Malathi de Alwis.
In addition I have other minor research interests, in archaeological practice, distributed electronic networks and cyberspace, and English literatures.
I also edit Domains, the scholarly journal of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Colombo where I am a senior research fellow, and a member of the board of management.
My column with www.lines-magazine.org is called SouthPaw. Writing fiction, which is some thing I hope to do more and more in the years ahead, gives me some pleasure. My first collection was called At the Water's Edge; it was short listed for the 2004 Gratiean Prize. Photography and cooking are hobbies; I keep track of that part of my world in a blog, my-halflife and in my flickr stream.
with best wishes,
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