TY - JOUR
T1 - "Like a frog in a well"
T2 - Young people's views of the future expressed in two collaborative research projects in Sri Lanka
AU - Kingsolver, Ann E.
PY - 2010/4/1
Y1 - 2010/4/1
N2 - In a Sri Lankan context of rising youth unemployment, a long ethnic war, and neoliberal economic policies on the reprivatized tea estates, this article discusses two 2004 collaborative research projects with young people that focused on their views of the future. One project, designed by a group of university students, concerned the high rate of unemployment of young adults in Sri Lanka. This was an issue of grave import to the students that was largely unmentioned in national discourses, e.g., electoral rhetoric. The other project concerned the future of young, mostly Tamil, people on tea estates in Sri Lanka. This project was organized in response to the view expressed by middle-aged decision-makers in Sri Lanka's tea industry that young people on the estates will not choose agricultural work in the future. They anticipated a labor shortage in the tea sector, but had not consulted young people directly about their future hopes and plans. Contrary to views attributed to them by others, the young tea estate residents prioritized wage equity over leaving the estates (if given the option to migrate). Where Sri Lankans, especially Tamils, choose to live, or are forced to live, is highly politicized in the current context. The armed conflict may be over, but not the ethnic conflict. Collaborative social science research with young people is vital to understanding the possibilities and challenges in Sri Lanka's future.
AB - In a Sri Lankan context of rising youth unemployment, a long ethnic war, and neoliberal economic policies on the reprivatized tea estates, this article discusses two 2004 collaborative research projects with young people that focused on their views of the future. One project, designed by a group of university students, concerned the high rate of unemployment of young adults in Sri Lanka. This was an issue of grave import to the students that was largely unmentioned in national discourses, e.g., electoral rhetoric. The other project concerned the future of young, mostly Tamil, people on tea estates in Sri Lanka. This project was organized in response to the view expressed by middle-aged decision-makers in Sri Lanka's tea industry that young people on the estates will not choose agricultural work in the future. They anticipated a labor shortage in the tea sector, but had not consulted young people directly about their future hopes and plans. Contrary to views attributed to them by others, the young tea estate residents prioritized wage equity over leaving the estates (if given the option to migrate). Where Sri Lankans, especially Tamils, choose to live, or are forced to live, is highly politicized in the current context. The armed conflict may be over, but not the ethnic conflict. Collaborative social science research with young people is vital to understanding the possibilities and challenges in Sri Lanka's future.
KW - Sri Lanka
KW - Tamil
KW - Tea
KW - Unemployment
KW - Youth
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77951536071&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77951536071&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.17730/humo.69.1.87652108l7417273
DO - 10.17730/humo.69.1.87652108l7417273
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:77951536071
SN - 0018-7259
VL - 69
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Human Organization
JF - Human Organization
IS - 1
ER -