Accumulation through nationalism: the politics of profit in “neoliberal” Sri Lanka

Widger, Tom

Abstract

It is worth remembering that the introduction of open economic reforms in the country cannot be dichotomized from the tacit encouragement of nationalist forces that led to the outbreak of the civil war. In his analysis of the continued twinning of capitalism and nationalism, Tom Widger draws attention to what he terms ‘philanthronationalism’ as a characteristic of private capital in the country. Widger demonstrates how the nationalist imagination of Corporate Social Responsibility Programmes in Sri Lanka function to legitimize and encourage capital accumulation, while gaining state sanction for the exploitative economic activities of these companies.

Citation

Widger, T. (2017). Accumulation through nationalism: the politics of profit in “neoliberal” Sri Lanka. Polity, 7(2), 31-37

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 5, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Aug 16, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 16, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 5, 2017
• Journal: Polity
• Print ISSN: 0032-3497
• Electronic ISSN: 1744-1684
• Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 31-37
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1385667
• Publisher URL: http://ssalanka.org/accumulation-through-nationalism-the-politics-of-profit-in-neoliberal-sri-lanka-thomas-widger/