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Indebted Impunity and Violence in a Lesser State: Ethno-Racial Capitalism in Sri Lanka

Resource type
Authors/contributors
Title
Indebted Impunity and Violence in a Lesser State: Ethno-Racial Capitalism in Sri Lanka
Abstract
This article examines the relationship between colonialism, capitalism, and violence in Sri Lanka through the combined lenses of international economic law (IEL) and transitional justice. We argue that colonialism instantiates vicious cycles in the histories of violence of ethno-racial capitalism through the creation of states with debts that can never be repaid. This system of ‘indebted impunity’ persists even under ‘new’ Southern sovereigns. We illustrate how IEL and transitional justice are co-constitutive in maintaining international law’s racial hierarchies, while pursuing the construction of racial hierarchies that precipitate ethno-racial capitalist formations, and violence, in Sri Lanka. We first attend to the emergence of international law with racial capitalism as a story of sustained violence, where offshoots like IEL and transitional justice remain tied to the foundational violence in ways that cannot be reformed away. The final section examines the colonial transformation of Sri Lanka, focusing on the British Empire’s role in configuring ethno-racial communities, to consider how IEL and transitional justice work together to maintain this cycle. We observe that indebted impunity persists as a structural condition even when the ‘white’ colonial masters have formally departed, and ‘brown’ differentially racialized compatriots become the ones in charge.
Publication
Journal of International Economic Law
Volume
25
Issue
2
Pages
277-293
Date
2022-06-01
Journal Abbr
Journal of International Economic Law
ISSN
1369-3034
Short Title
Indebted Impunity and Violence in a Lesser State
Accessed
8/29/23, 4:38 PM
Library Catalog
Silverchair
Citation
Xavier, S., Bhatia, A., & Smith, A. A. (2022). Indebted Impunity and Violence in a Lesser State: Ethno-Racial Capitalism in Sri Lanka. Journal of International Economic Law, 25(2), 277–293. https://doi.org/10.1093/jiel/jgac023
Author / Editor