Australian-British social anthropologist. Ph.D. at the University of Manchester, under Max Gluckman, 1969. Fieldwork in Zambia (1963-1966), Sri Lanka (1972 and later) and Australia (1974 and later), South Africa and Kerala, India (1998 and later). Among his most influential work is his comparative monograph on Sinhalese and Australian nationalism: Legends of people, myths of state: Violence, intolerance and political culture in Sri Lanka and Australia, 1988). Research themes include ritual and performance, politics and the state, identity, nationalism and violence, urbanization.

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