Sharika Thiranagama’s book studies the impact of the Sri Lankan civil war between the Sinhalese majority-led state and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) on the everyday “mundane” life of civilians living through the horrors.

In the introduction, Thiranagama states that this book is not just about Sri Lanka’s war but about “war itself as a social condition” and hence her book underscores the lasting impact of civil wars on individual lives, collective identities, and the intricate interplay between the state, non-state actors, and the communities they affect. Several key observations emerge from this analysis. Civil wars frequently originate from discriminatory state policies and unresolved grievances, as seen in the Tamil marginalization that led to the rise of militancy in Sri Lanka. Paradoxically, the state’s authoritarian response to dissent often intensifies tensions, contributing to the escalation of the conflict.

In any civil war though, it is always the civilians who face the brunt of the violence becoming collateral damage in a dual system of repression by both the state and non-state actors. In 2009 when the Sri Lankan government finally put an end to the “insurgency’, they did so by bombarding the LTTE-controlled Northern Vanni region including the 330,000 civilians trapped there with heavy weaponry. As the state army advanced deeper North, the LTTE intensified their forced recruitment of civilians and started using them as human shields.

Thiranagama details how civil wars can transform the social fabric of a place, disrupting some cultural practices while some persist within the unique context of war. This transformation is complex, as pre-existing kin relationships, concepts of home, and generational ties continue to exist alongside the destruction caused by war. While certain differences within communities are magnified such as within Tamil-speaking Hindus and Muslims, entirely new identities can be created based on shared trauma, such as the emergence of groups like the ‘Northern Muslims’ following the “eviction” in 1990.

Simultaneously, civil wars can erase cross-cutting solidarities and shared communal histories, further complicating the concept of belonging, especially among displaced communities. Public political participation is stifled, and dissent is forced into private spaces among trusted networks, but sociality endures under coercive regimes. The generational impacts of war are also a key facet of this relationship, as the experiences of different generations are shaped by the war’s rapid pace and its far-reaching consequences.

In addition to the state-society dynamic, Thiranagama’s work emphasizes the profound significance of family, kinship, and community ties in the context of civil wars. These ties matter greatly, as they provide a sense of belonging and sociality amidst displacement, even though their meanings may evolve. Family and kinship are not merely symbolic; they hold material and symbolic ties to place, as evidenced by dowry practices among groups like the Northern Muslims.

As war accelerates and transforms society, generational divides widen, influencing the inheritance and reproduction of families. The atmosphere of terror and repression strains open community relations, pushing dissent and sociality into intimate family spaces, where kin relations take on new significance. The recognition and support from one’s family intersect with claims to larger political rights and belonging. Local narratives highlight the ruptures in intimate communal relations caused by external forces like the LTTE, offering nostalgic reconstructions of past conviviality as a way of coping with loss and upheaval. Conflicts also result in shifts in community demographics, leading to the formation of new collectives like the ‘Northern Muslims’ founded on shared trauma and loss. While these intimate ties may offer some protection against state and non-state predation, they often involve difficult choices, compromise, and complicity for survival. Family narratives become instrumental in transmitting political memories and ethnically differentiating experiences, particularly through stories like the Eviction stories, emphasizing the intergenerational role of storytelling.