Life Beyond Survival. Women’s Coping and Networking Strategies in War-torn, Tsunami-affected Sri Lanka

What are the specific dynamics developing in the aftermath of a natural disaster within a war-affected area? How are the people themselves experiencing and coping with such a crisis? In what ways are personal and collective identities transformed in the process?

Such are the central questions leading three periods of fieldwork in Batticaloa, eastern Sri Lanka (September – November 2004, February – November 2005, April – June 2006), financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation and by KFPE. The methodological approach lies in exploring the daily life situations of families living in camps and transitional shelters after the complete destruction of their former village. Participant observation has been the primary method for data collection within this distinct context of political insecurity and personal mourning. A descriptive-analytical approach that critically reflects upon present concepts in social science and international cooperation shall serve as a framework for data interpretation.

The core research interest approaches two analytical dimensions: A) Questions related to the subjective dimension concern the variety of social, economical, political, and ritual processes that people concerned initiate or support through their daily life practices. In that sense, the term coping is introduced and discussed, exploring its specific local meanings. B) These questions are simultaneously related the societal dimension through which the observed activities and personal interactions are further reflected upon. Here, the specific social embeddedness of the actors, thus their personal networks, is of main interest. With a focus on gender it is furthermore explored how relationships between women and men are (re-)negotiated in the process of (re-)ordering society following the catastrophic event.
Questions of how people affected by the Tsunami cope with their experiences and losses, and how, on the social level, such an event is dealt with in the midst of insecurity and instability shall now be analysed within the framework of ‘agency’, improvisation and performance. Destruction and chaos but also notions of human creativity and social transformation are central to this project. A social-anthropological and gender-analytical perspective focusing on concrete social practices and actors is expected to contribute towards a better understanding of how personal as well as social relationships and identities are lived and experienced in the context of war and disaster.


Contacts:

Katharina Thurnheer
Institute for Social Anthropology
University of Bern
Längassstrasse 49a
CH – 3012 Bern
kathrinth@bluewin.ch

Velupilai Sujatha, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka