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Outputs (27)

Kin, friends, philanthronationalists: “Relations” as a modality of colonial and post-colonial charity in Sri Lanka (2022)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2023). Kin, friends, philanthronationalists: “Relations” as a modality of colonial and post-colonial charity in Sri Lanka. Ethnography, 24(3), 432-449. https://doi.org/10.1177/14661381221134402

Through an historical ethnographic analysis of Sri Lanka’s oldest charity, the Colombo Friend-in-Need Society, this article explores changing modalities of humanitarian “relations” in colonial and post-colonial contexts. For two hundred years, “the S... Read More about Kin, friends, philanthronationalists: “Relations” as a modality of colonial and post-colonial charity in Sri Lanka.

Glyphosate regulation and sovereignty politics around the world (2021)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2021). Glyphosate regulation and sovereignty politics around the world. Anthropology Today, 37(4), 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12661

Bayer's best-selling herbicide, glyphosate, is a once in a generation product. This pesticide has come to symbolize widespread opposition to corporate influence over agrochemical regulation and led to calls for greater democratic accountability in sc... Read More about Glyphosate regulation and sovereignty politics around the world.

Trading Futures: Sadaqah, Social Enterprise, and the Polytemporalities of Development Gifts (2021)
Journal Article
Widger, T., & Osella, F. (2021). Trading Futures: Sadaqah, Social Enterprise, and the Polytemporalities of Development Gifts. Focaal: Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology, 2021(90), 106-119. https://doi.org/10.3167/fcl.2020.072006

In this article, we explore what happens when idea(l)s of Islamic charity (sadaqah) and social enterprise converge within a low-cost public health clinic in Colombo, Sri Lanka. For both the clinic's wealthy sponsors and the urban poor who use it, int... Read More about Trading Futures: Sadaqah, Social Enterprise, and the Polytemporalities of Development Gifts.

Monsoon uncertainties, Hydro-chemical Infrastructures, and Ecological Time in Sri Lanka (2020)
Book Chapter
Widger, T., & Wickramasinghe, U. (2021). Monsoon uncertainties, Hydro-chemical Infrastructures, and Ecological Time in Sri Lanka. In E. Kirtsoglou, & B. Simpson (Eds.), The Time of Anthropology: Studies of Contemporary Chronopolitics (122-141). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003087199-7

In this chapter, the authors argue that anthropological discussions of time will remain limited if alongside human time we do not also consider that which falls beyond – the expansive ecologies of time. A study of time in agricultural contexts like t... Read More about Monsoon uncertainties, Hydro-chemical Infrastructures, and Ecological Time in Sri Lanka.

Suicides, poisons and the materially possible: The positive ambivalence of means restriction and critical–critical global health (2018)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2018). Suicides, poisons and the materially possible: The positive ambivalence of means restriction and critical–critical global health. Journal of Material Culture, 23(4), 396-412. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183518799525

Developing an object-oriented perspective on suicide, in this article the author challenges critical global health scholarship and sociological theories of ambivalence by showing how a focus on ‘materially possible’ suicide prevention can offer cultu... Read More about Suicides, poisons and the materially possible: The positive ambivalence of means restriction and critical–critical global health.

‘You can give even if you only have ten rupees!’: Muslim charity in a Colombo housing scheme (2018)
Journal Article
Osella, F., & Widger, T. (2018). ‘You can give even if you only have ten rupees!’: Muslim charity in a Colombo housing scheme. Modern Asian Studies, 52(1), 297-324. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0026749x1700021x

Recent research on contemporary modalities of Islamic or Muslim philanthropy has focused on processes of subjectification through which givers and recipients of charity are habituated or craft themselves to an ethic of piety, social responsibility, a... Read More about ‘You can give even if you only have ten rupees!’: Muslim charity in a Colombo housing scheme.

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

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 ca... Read More about Accumulation through nationalism: the politics of profit in “neoliberal” Sri Lanka.

Anti-Hesitation (2017)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2017). Anti-Hesitation. Anthropology of this century,

Visions of philanthronationalism: the (in)equities of corporate good governance in Sri Lanka (2016)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2016). Visions of philanthronationalism: the (in)equities of corporate good governance in Sri Lanka. Contemporary South Asia, 24(4), 400-415. https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2016.1203861

Philanthronationalism – the pursuance of corporate ‘good governance’ and equality initiatives for ethno-religious political ends – shapes at a fundamental level business practice in Sri Lanka. In this article, Sri Lankan firms’ approaches to the mana... Read More about Visions of philanthronationalism: the (in)equities of corporate good governance in Sri Lanka.

Philanthronationalism: junctures at the business-charity nexus in post-war Sri Lanka (2015)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2016). Philanthronationalism: junctures at the business-charity nexus in post-war Sri Lanka. Development and Change, 47(1), 27-50. https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12185

Over the past few years, the role of private sector organizations as actors and investors in development processes has received increased attention. This article explores the rise of ‘philanthronationalism’ in Sri Lanka: the co-development of busines... Read More about Philanthronationalism: junctures at the business-charity nexus in post-war Sri Lanka.

Charity, philanthropy and development in Colombo, Sri Lanka (2015)
Book Chapter
Osella, F., Stirrat, R., & Widger, T. (2015). Charity, philanthropy and development in Colombo, Sri Lanka. In B. Morvaridi (Ed.), New philanthropy and social justice : debating the conceptual and policy discourse (137-156). Policy Press

Suicide and the 'Poison Complex': Toxic Relationalities, Child Development, and the Sri Lankan Self-Harm Epidemic (2015)
Journal Article
Widger, T. (2015). Suicide and the 'Poison Complex': Toxic Relationalities, Child Development, and the Sri Lankan Self-Harm Epidemic. Medical Anthropology, 34(6), 501-516. https://doi.org/10.1080/01459740.2015.1012616

Suicide prevention efforts in Asia have increasingly turned to ‘quick win’ means restriction, while more complicated cognitive restriction and psychosocial programmes are limited. This paper argues the development of cognitive restriction programmes... Read More about Suicide and the 'Poison Complex': Toxic Relationalities, Child Development, and the Sri Lankan Self-Harm Epidemic.