Religious Nationalism and Democracy in Sri Lanka and India

Sri Lanka and India are among Asia’s longest-standing democracies. Yet both face the rise of powerful political movements claiming to represent religious nationalism? Dr. Neil DeVotta explains the growth of Buddhist and Hindu nationalisms in South Asia.

Neil DeVotta is a Professor of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University. He is the author of Blowback: Linguistic Nationalism, Institutional Decay, and Ethnic Conflict in Sri Lanka (Stanford University Press), as well as dozens of journal articles, book chapters and policy reports in leading outlets like the Journal of Democracy and Asian Affairs.