The Formation, Institutionalization and Consolidation of the LTTE: Religious Practices, Intra-Tamil Divisions and a Violent Nationalist Ideology

摘要

Utilizing the case of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Sri Lanka, I make a three-part explanation for the critical role the religious organization, ideological fitness, and state capacity played in the formation, institutionalization and consolidation of the LTTE in the Tamil ethnic mobilization process. Firstly, I show how the Tamil religious re-awakening during the British colonial period led to religious practices which consolidated the social dominance of the Vellalar caste and blocked the upward economic, social and political mobility of the other Tamil castes, thus enabling the emergence of lower-caste groups such as the LTTE in the 1970s. Secondly, I demonstrate that the LTTE's ideology privileged its nationalist goals over Marxist doctrinal purity because of the LTTE's commitment to improved intra-Tamil caste equality; an ideological approach which only increased the LTTE's legitimacy within the Tamil community and solidified its institutionalization as a viable Tamil group. Finally, I demonstrate how the intense intra-Sinhalese elite-level bidding wars, driven by the partisan competition for power among the dominant Sinhalese parties of the early 1980s, reduced the autonomy and capacity of the Sri Lankan state and enabled the consolidation of the LTTE as the leader of the Tamil ethnic mobilization drive.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/21567689.2012.732016