The Broker Online

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Johny Stephen

Johny Stephen

Johny Stephen is a PhD candidate at the Amsterdam Institute of Social Science Research (AISSR), University of Amsterdam. He holds an M.Phil. from the Centre of Studies in Social Sciences Calcutta (CSSSC), India and a Masters in International Fisheries Management from the University of Tromso, Norway. His research is interdisciplinary but broadly falls under political geography and resource management.

Between the devil and the not-so-deep blue sea

Sri Lankan and Indian fishermen are embroiled in an enduring dispute over the use of fishing grounds in the Palk Bay. The dispute is not only a matter of big India versus small Sri Lanka, or big boats versus small boats. Rather, Sri Lankan Tamil fishermen are less successful in asserting their interests vis-à-vis the central state than their Indian counterparts. This imbalance of political agency is grounded in enduring ethnic tension between the Tamils and Sri Lankan government.

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