Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Part 1: Mainly 'Nobodies ' in a Colonial Backwater
• 1. Trade and Accumulation in the Pre-Plantation Economy
• 2. The Beginnings of the Bourgeoisie
• 3. Taking Off Through the Arrack Trade
• 4. Multi-Caste Class Formation
• Part 2: Becoming 'Somebodies'
• 5. Transition to Plantation Economy
• 6. Marketing Arrack among Workers and Peasants
• 7. Profits in the Liquor Trade
• 8. Merchant Capitalists Spread Their Wings
• Part 3: Accumulating Status and Constructing Identity
• 9. Recasting Caste in Class Society
• 10. The Sinhala Bourgeoisie of 'Nobodies' and 'Somebodies'
• 11. The Creation of the Colombo Tamil Bourgeoisie
• 12. Constructing Muslim Identity
• 13. Burghers and Eurasians as Modernizers
• Part 4: Culture, Religious Revival and Gender
• 14. Christianization and Cultural Assimilation
• 15. Religious Revival and the Bourgeoisie
• 16. The Debut of the Bourgeois Woman
• Part 5: Capital and Politics
• 17. The Politics of Loyalty and Royalty
• 18. Class and Caste in National Politics
• 19. Political Capital and Dynasty
• 20. Conclusion
• Appendices

About the Author

KUMARI JAYAWARDENA is a senior fellow of the Graduate Studies Institute of Colombo University and serves as secretary of the Social Scientists' Association, a group of concerned scholars working on ethnic, gender, caste and other issues. Her many books include Feminism and Nationalism in the Third World (Zed Books, 1986), The White Woman's Other Burden (Routledge, 1995), and Embodied Violence (Zed Books & Kali for Women, 1998).

Reviews

'A superb scholarly and revealing account of the social and economic transformation of Sri Lanka during the British colonial period.' - Emeritus Professor Laksiri Jayasuriya, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia