Reflexivity and women’s agency: a critical realist morphogenetic exploration of the life experience of Sri Lankan women

Habitus and reflexivity in tandem? Insights from postcolonial Sri Lanka

“…Not only do the contemporary CRs face constant day-to-day struggles in sustaining traditions, but also the future of these duties appears uncertain. Attracting and conditioning the younger generation to continue these duties is no longer a routine act but increasingly involves reflexive strategies, of autonomous reflexivity -a case of practising a provisional reflexive modality (Wimalasena, 2017). The following extract from Millawana's biography demonstrates how his concern about transferring the traditional duties to the future generation makes him employ a range of reflexive strategies.…”

“…Archer emphasises, however, that there is much variety involved in life-courses, even among practitioners of the same reflexive mode, from evasion, through compliance, to strategic manipulation of subversion. These modalities, therefore, are not deterministic and may change over time, and agents may also practise provisional reflexive modalities, based on individual experiences and circumstances (Wimalasena, 2017).…”

“…Traditionally, social relations were centred around feudal caste-based family structures classifying people according to the services rendered to the king (rajakariya), which continued until the Kandyan kingdom 1 was absorbed into the British Empire in 1815 (Jayawardena, 2007). Colonisation, which began in the early 15th century and continued over 450 years until the mid-20th century, has been a major historical force that destabilised the traditional social fabric of Sri Lanka (Wimalasena, 2017). However, as Wickramasinghe (2006, p. 6) notes, 'colonisation touched Ceylon and its people in an uneven fashion' creating further social divisions within an already complex society.…”

“…Sri Lanka is now a multicultural society with approximately 21 million people, hosting a myriad of religions and ethnicities with the majority being Buddhist-Sinhalese (Wimalasena, 2017). Perera (1996) notes that the post-independence period added greater complexity to the social fabric of Sri Lanka.…”

“…Charu's life-journey is an example of an autonomous-reflexive's strategy to navigate normative constraints. Yet, for rural Sri Lankan women, unlike for Charu, liberation seems more distant as the patriarchal social system is more strongly present in their daily life (Wimalasena, 2017).…”