Forged in Fire: Eelam Tamil Nationalism after the LTTE

This dissertation examines how a stateless nationalist movement can reproduce itself after the defeat and destruction of the organisation that led it for over three decades. It focuses on the critical case of Eelam Tamil nationalism in the period since the military defeat and destruction of the LTTE’s organisational capacity by the Sri Lankan state in 2009. This is a critical case for two reasons. The first is the centrality of the LTTE to Eelam Tamil nationalism in the preceding three decades. In that time the LTTE had become synonymous with Eelam Tamil nationalism. This led a wide and influential range of academics and policy makers to expect that with the destruction of the LTTE, Eelam Tamil nationalism would also eventually peter out and disappear. The second reason is the nature of the LTTE’s end – it wasn’t slow and protracted, but sudden and overnight. One day the LTTE existed and was still giving orders, the next day it was gone. Fifteen years and counting since that momentous day when the LTTE declared its own end, the above widespread expectations that Eelam Tamil nationalism also would soon dissipate and vanish have been proven false. On the contrary, as the dissertation has evidenced, it has not only survived but thrives, and it does so even in the absence of apex leadership or institutions and, moreover, also in the face of state repression. The central argument presented in this dissertation is that that long-standing nationalist identities and logics can reproduce themselves through everyday or banal practices, and, more specifically, through the deep sedimentation of these practices and processes in everyday lives. Through its study of Eelam Tamil nationalism after the disappearance of the LTTE, the dissertation shows how and why successful sedimentation processes can embed nationalist identities and logics in everyday practices and processes so deeply that they can survive and thrive, not only in the absence of institutions but also in the face of state repression.