Militarized Development in Post-war Sri Lanka: Consolidating Control

Abstract

Development is an important, yet contentious word, in the history of post-colonial Sri Lanka. Typically, it is linked with economic progress and societal change, intricately woven into political processes and frequently utilized as a platform to promote Sinhala-Buddhist ethnonationalist agendas. This article looks at post-colonial Sri Lanka's ‘core development project’ — the Mahaweli Development Programme — and its post-war revival with the military as a key actor. Through a detailed ethnographic study, it traces the way in which the military assumed extraordinary powers and became vital to the post-colonial project of development and the militarized practices that enabled this. The author argues that this project of militarized development unfolds in a fourfold manner: by normalizing the presence of the military; by ensuring the military is seen as charitable; by blurring the boundaries between the military and civilians; and lastly by portraying the work carried out by the military as transformative. The article concludes by demonstrating that this militarized project of development is the latest iteration of the long-standing post-colonial project of Sinhala-Buddhist state expansion, enabled through development.