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Sri Lanka's shift from a country with a unique social welfare structure to one marked by warfare is the subject of a new book by The University of Western Australia's Emeritus Professor Laksiri Jayasuriya.

Published by Sage , Taking Social Development Seriously:  the Experience of Sri Lanka is about a conflicted society emerging from 25 years of civil war.  The book's cover was designed by UWA Uniprint's senior graphic designer, Helen Bailey.  Its foreword is by Professor James Midgley of the University of Berkeley, California, a leading authority in the field of comparative social policy.

Honorary Senior Research Fellow in UWA's Discipline of Social Work and Social Policy, Professor Jayasuriya graduated from the University of Sydney in 1954 and obtained his PhD from the University of London's School of Economics and Political Science.

He has written widely and published in scholarly journals on social policy, multiculturalism and ethnic affairs.  Until his retirement in 1992, he held UWA's Foundation Chair of Social Work and Social Administration.

As well as his academic appointments and responsibilities, he has been involved in a range of community activities, especially in policy, welfare, ethnic affairs and development assistance.  He has an extensive record of involvement in public affairs since 1972, and has played a major role in policy developments relating to multiculturalism and ethnic affairs in Australia at both State and national levels.

Professor Jayasuriya has served on numerous government bodies and committees of inquiry and been a policy advisor to many governments.

In his new book, he identifies three phases of development of social policy in Sri Lanka - early, late and post-colonial state.  And he argues that social development in the country has been reframed by a combination of neo-liberalism and a protracted civil war.

The book will be launched by the Most Reverend Roger Herft, Anglican Archbishop of Perth, a Sri Lankan expat, at 5.30pm on Tuesday 14 September in the Theatre Auditorium of UWA's University Club.  RSVP:  8 September Institute of Advanced Studies , UWA, on 6488 4797.

Media references

Emeritus Professor Laksiri Jayasuriya (School of Social and Cultural Studies)  (+61 8)  6488 2989
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716