Imagined Statehood: Rebel Governance and Anti-National Identity in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Post-civil war countries often agonize over the lack of a national identity. While war-torn societies are considered devoid of a common identity because of extensive violence that engenders distrust and intolerance among social groups, empirical findings are mixed on the relationship between violence and identity. This paper addresses the debate by shedding light on rebel governance. Rebels’ provision of public services encourages recipients to foster the representation of rebel statehood. An analysis using Structural Equation Modeling based on survey data in Sri Lanka indicates that civilians’ recognition of rebel statehood had a positive effect on the formation of an anti-national identity in the post-civil war context. Although the experience of victimization in itself had no direct impact on civilian identity, it intensified the post-war disruption of identity indirectly through civilians’ acknowledgement of the rebel state. The findings suggest that those charged with the task of post-war reconstruction need to take into account the legacy of rebel statehood in order to successfully rebuild integrated communities.