ABSTRACT
This chapter anticipates the approaches of many readers, who undoubtedly appreciate the wisdom of the observations presented and who are concerned with transposing these insights to their own particular arena of concern. It also provides important insights, a veritable instruction booklet for how the minority group may mobilize the power of persuasive argument to maximize its chances of succeeding in moving more powerful groups, even though it lacks the coercive power to enforce its will. The Tamils are a religious and linguistic minority in Sri Lanka, and their master narrative was quite different from that of the Sinhalese. Failing to become a part of the master story, the master narrative, made the Tamils fair game for the more powerful Sinhalese majority. This result suggests some important features of the human response to attempted persuasion or social influence, namely, that although tend in the war of words to remain independent in the face of pressure, susceptible to subtle persuasive tactics.
