‘Our action has become wider than a trade union struggle’ - Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi 20 SEPTEMBER 2012 BY MEENA KANDASAMY Liyanage Amarakeerthi is a Senior Lecturer, in the Sinhala Department at the University of Peradeniya. Apart from being a versatile  writer, with at least 14 books to his credit, Dr.Amarakeerthi plays a prominent role in the ongoing trade union action called by the Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA). As one of Sri Lanka’s foremost trade unions in the university sector with more than 4,000 academic members, FUTA is demanding, among other things, that the government allocate 6% of GDP to education. Chennai based writer and activist Meena Kandasamy spoke to Dr.Amarakeerthi regarding the FUTA trade union action, university politics and the deep seated crisis in the higher education sector. Excerpts from the interview follow: Meena Kandasamy: I have been reading a lot about students struggles in the recent past. I would like you to comment on what is happening in Sri Lanka now in the context of the student protests in Santiago (Chile), and Quebec (Canada) and elsewhere worldwide, especially the common thread of students demanding greater spending on higher education, students demanding that education should not be privatized. Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi: I think this is a global phenomenon. In the first half of the 20th century we had social democratic governments, there was the Soviet Union, the influence of the Marxist Social Democratic ideas which dominated the cultural and political discourse everywhere. Now these Social Democratic Marxist ideas are really being systematically marginalized. Because of the ideological defeat of the Soviet Union and because of the geopolitical situation, right now we are facing the logic of capital. This logic of capital defeats the classical idea of education like building a democratic citizen, a rational and freethinking citizen, the agency of the public and all those ideas are marginalized. The neo-liberal capitalism has offered everyone the unthinking consumer which is the global need of corporate capitalism. Perhaps that is the reason why everywhere across the globalized world -including in the US, there is an ongoing strike in Chicago, people are fighting to secure education, healthcare, public transportation and the so on. The logic of capital is rolling and that is why I think this has become a global phenomenon. I like to understand the Sri Lankan situation in connection with the global cry for the classical ideas of education. We need to hold on to those ideas again- the classical ideas that human civilization needs to be built with education. Meena: Since you have clearly drawn the links between global capital and the way in which education is itself perceived, would you compare these massive strikes in Sri Lanka with May ‘68, or is it stretching it too far? I would want to connect how capitalism has ruined the educational system in my state for example, it is very difficult to get students to be involved in strikes. Because of the high level of privatization of education, students are afraid to protest anything. LM: You mean, the 60s in Sri Lanka?                                 Read more