Abstract:
Talk of Sinhala Buddhist hegemony in Sri Lanka has always tacitly assumed the Sinhala
Buddhist bloc to be a single, unified force whose dominance has pushed to the
background all other competing nationalisms. But is this hegemony quite what it is
popularly believed to be? Is it a mere dominant class exerting control and influence
over others? It should then naturally follow that such a hegemonic class is unified in its
goals, ambitions, and preferences. This paper seeks to evaluate the concept of
hegemony in relation to the post-2015 general election Sri Lanka, particularly the
electoral strategy of Patali Champika Ranawaka, with the use of the concept of
hegemony as understood by Antonio Gramsci. In this light, it maps the multiple shifting
allegiances of the Sinhala Buddhist electorate, analyzes the fractured nature of such
allegiances, explores the realignment of 'historical blocs' (to borrow Gramsci's
terminology) in the political landscape of post-January eighth Sri Lanka, and situates
Patali Champika Ranawaka and his electoral strategy within this larger framework of
analysis. Towards this end, this research has made use of participatory observations,
interviews, and online following of Patali Champika Ranawaka and his activities. It
concludes that the Sinhala Buddhist bloc and the 'hegemony' it exerts hardly constitute
a single, unified force, but rather is a fragile aggregate of numerous alliances that
requires constant negotiation in order to be maintained. Such hegemony is not as
overarching and dominant as is popularly believed, precisely due to its fractured nature
and the resultant fragility. The said fragility also exposes the vulnerability of this
'dominant' bloc, and puts into serious question the perception of its 'hegemony' as
understood in the popular sense.
