ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book analyzes the “everyday work of ethnicity” that culture workers perform in the up-country of Sri Lanka. It demonstrates that the ways that Up-country Tamils have become Sri Lankan, the ways that they have remained Indian, and the meanings of these identifications. Despite being continually pushed to the margins of Sri Lankan society, economy and politics, and even being forced out of the country entirely with repatriation programs, Up-country Tamils have steadfastly asserted their attachment and belonging to the land of their birth. Up-country Tamil ethnogenesis has taken place over the course of decades, through the intertwined efforts of numerous culture workers. The book provides wider comparisons for understanding Sri Lanka’s volatile ethnic conflict, indicating its commonalities with other sites for the South Asian plantation diaspora, such as Malaysia, Mauritius, Fiji and Trinidad.
