Department of Political Science

Dr. S.V.D. Gamini Samaranayake is a distinguished academic and administrator whose career spans over four decades of service in higher education, research, and diplomacy. He earned a B.A. (Hons) with Second Class Upper Division in 1976 and an M.A. from the University of Peradeniya in 1983. In 1991, he completed his Ph.D. in International Relations at the University of St. Andrews, United Kingdom with a dissertation on Political Violence in the Third World: A Case Study of Sri Lanka, 1971–1987. He began his academic career as an Assistant Lecturer in 1977 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000, Professor in 2006, and Senior Professor in 2010. He served as Head of the Department from 2003, Vice Chancellor of Rajarata University from 2005, and Chairman of the University Grants Commission from 2006 to 2011, before retiring in 2014. He currently teaches at the Postgraduate Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences. He also served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Philippines; and represented the country at numerous international forums. He held fellowships in the U.K. and Japan, and contributed to bodies such as the Sri Lanka National Commission for UNESCO. His work reflects deep commitment to academic excellence and public service. Some of his publications include:

• Political social theory: From Plato to Mao (2018). Godage Pub, Colombo.
• Changing university student politics in Sri Lanka: From norm oriented to value oriented student movements (2015). Social Affairs, 1(3). pp.23-32.
• Political violence in Sri Lanka (2008). Gyan Publishers, New Delhi, India.
• Demogragraphic trends and political violence in Sri Lanka (2002). Sri Lanka Journal of Population Studies, Vol. 5, pp. 107-117.
• Ethnic conflict and guerrilla warfare of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka (2002).In Ethnicity and polity in South Asia, (ed) Girin Phukon, South Asian Publishers, New Delhi, pp.149-169.
• Response of the state towards the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka (2001). In Ethnicity, identity and the state in South Asia, (Ed) Kousar J Azam, South Asian Publisher, New Delhi, pp. 124-145.
• Patterns of political violence and responses of the government in Sri Lanka, 1971 –1996 (1999). Terrorism and Political, Violence, 11(1).
• Political violence in Sri Lanka: A diagnostic perspective (1997). Terrorism and Political Violence, 9 (2).
• Political system in Sri Lanka (1997). World encyclopedia of political parties and system, (ed) Deborah A. Kaple, 3rd Edition, Facts on File, New York
• The role of the third parties in peace processes: A comparative study of Afghanistan, Guatemala, and Sri Lanka (1993). In Experiences from conflict resolution in the third word, (eds) Goran Lindgren, Kjell-Ake Nordquist and Peter Wallenteen, Dept. of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University.
• Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and prospects of management: An empirical inquiry (1991). Political Violence and Terrorism, 3 (2).
• The changing attitude towards the Tamil problem within the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) (1987). In facets of ethnicity in Sri Lanka, (eds) Charles Abeysekera, Newton Gunasinghe, Social Science Association.