Relocating Dharmapala thought in postmodern society

Abstract

Dharmapala thought had been instrumental in the Buddhist revolution in the late colonial period in early 20th century. However, use of Dharmapala thought in solving contemporary ethnic issue related to post-colonial Sri Lanka remains isolated in the perspective of ethnic and religious extremism. This paper studies the allocations and limitations of Dharmapala thought in the context of modern post-liberal political and economic policy. Using a critical appraisal, which, form a central part of the systematic review process, this study reviews the validity and generalizability of the Dharmapala thought, while comparatively analyze it with the postmodern thought of Deconstruction originated by Jacques Derrida. As Buddhist thought was instrumental in forming the Dharmapala thesis , this study assumes the use of essence of Buddhist thought to relocate the Dharmapala thought provide a more platform for a multicultural nationality for a more diverse soft power in establishing a Sri Lankan Nationality in 21st Century.