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This chapter reviews a recent study that explores the perception of adult convicted prisoners and ex-prisoners in Sri Lanka regarding their use of prison libraries. How prison officials, particularly rehabilitation officers and counselors see the presence of a prison library in the rehabilitative process is also examined. This chapter focuses mainly on the perceptions, feelings and emotions associated with using the prison library by Sri Lankan prisoners and ex-prisoners during their incarceration.

Information poverty is often common among prisoners as most are illiterate and are deprived of freedom due to their imprisonment. The role of a prison library in the rehabilitative process is highly commendable. A review of related literature, semi-structured interviews, and life histories with inmates at four closed prisons in Sri Lanka and ex-prisoners and observation on Sri Lankan prison libraries found that prisoners and ex-prisoners see prison libraries as important in meeting their diverse information needs, assisting them to spend their time effectively during incarceration, and to overcome stress while enhancing their well-being by reading. This chapter also stresses the importance of a well-established prison library and the effective delivery of library services for desistance from crime. However, the majority of prison officials do not see the importance of a prison library in the rehabilitative process. Drawbacks and potential of prison libraries and several implications for practice are also elaborated in this chapter. Such implications will be of interest to prison administrators and library professionals.

The Rajapaksa regime over the 2005–2022 period promoted a national-popular project based on a militarised Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism promoting a market-driven rentier economy. It illustrated a form of patrimonial capitalism undermining public accountability and the efficacy of the state bureaucracy. This popular-national project was dependent on strengthening ties with China while distancing relations with India and the Global North (USA and the EU). The ways in which the external relations were coordinated reinforced discrimination against Tamil and Muslim communities, while disregarding their demands for justice and reparations. The increasing integration of the economy with financial markets, driven by the Central Bank, amplified the commercialisation of the state, restraining public revenues and state oversight. Meanwhile, the militarisation of the state involved the commercialisation of the military, opaque military budgets and violent repression of protests. The Rajapaksa regime, which enabled a minority-privileged (leisure) class to culturally flourish in regulated safe spaces, also instigated multiple protests from below demanding democracy as well as justice.

Democratic renewal in Sri Lanka as well as a cross the Global South depends on strengthening democratic social movements within varieties of patrimonial capitalism. Patrimonial capitalism, emphasising patron–client relations, coincide with weakening democratic institutional cultures and practices. The dominant corruption/anti-corruption narrative is bracketed with elite class strategies aimed at negotiating a ‘managed corruption’. The realm of representative politics creating consent for patrimonial capitalism is shaped by: ethnic and class relations; the weakening of working-class parties; patriarchal cultures within parties; links with criminal networks; opaque finances and the integration of mainstream media with party patronage.

Democratising the realm of representative politics points towards democratic social movements. The internal dynamics of social movements, their relationships with political parties and collective learning are significant factors that shapes the strategic orientation of social movements. State repression of social movements highlights the need for demilitarisation and the abolition of prisons. The global sense of this local struggle relates to transforming financial markets and platform economies towards notions of financial and digital commons. The integration of different realms of politics, such as representative, movement, life and emancipatory politics, is vital for reinforcing solidarity as the basis for counter-hegemonic struggles.

The place of rehabilitation programmes in the reformation and transformation of prison inmates has continued to be on the front burner of professionals such as educators, counsellors, social workers, psychologists and medical doctors. Analysis has taken something of a top-down approach, and consideration has been placed on how the organizational context of individual prisoners interact with those rehabilitation programmes has been neglected. Drawing on interview data, this study aims to add to our understanding how rehabilitation programme affects inmates’ skills and attitudes in Sri Lankan prisons.

This study used an inductive qualitative case study approach as it requires a deep understanding of the effect of rehabilitation programme on inmates’ skills and attitudes and how inmates view rehabilitation programmes.

The study identified seven views of inmates regarding rehabilitation programmes conducted and understood that rehabilitation programme facilitates inmates to acquire strong self-assurance of future career options and deal with potentially destructive feeling such as anger, frustration and loneliness. However, inmates who showed a strong propensity to suffer injustice and internalized blame have found no substantial impact on their skills and attitude through the programme.

It is arguable that operation of meaningful prison-based rehabilitation programme is influenced by comprehensive picture of the profile of the prison population, shortages in resources, the attitudes of prison staffs, inability to meet real world settings and network building with a wide range of private, public or voluntary providers.

This study represents the first prison-based study to understand the inmates view on the rehabilitation programmes in Sri Lanka.

This paper defines literacy and lifelong learning and their significance to the development of a country. It specifies the recent education policy reforms in Sri Lanka which emphasise the expansion of literacy and lifelong learning. It then describes the role of the public libraries in this task and discusses the status of the Sri Lankan public libraries. Gives reasons for the unresponsiveness of public libraries to the changing educational requirements. Finally, the paper gives some recommendations which will help to develop the present condition of public libraries.

Research from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka has received relatively less attention of management scholars. To date, there has been no major review of the content of management research in these rapidly growing economies. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by reviewing management research in these six countries over a 25-year period from 1990 to 2014.

An electronic search of 11 databases was carried out using 53 search terms pertaining to the field of management. Only articles in journals rated A*, A, or B by the Australian Business Deans Council and either Q1 or Q2 in the Scopus/Imago ratings were included in the study. The articles were then classified as belonging to one of the divisions of the Academy of Management. Results are presented in thematic clusters, highlighting the major focus of management research in these countries.

A total of 211 articles were identified as a result of the search process. The highest number of articles (n=54) were classified under the “Public & Non-Profit.” This was the only area common to research in all six countries as represented by the selected articles. The results are reviewed from an ecological and institutional theory perspective which suggests that the various dimensions of the local environment are reflected in the type of management research emerging from these countries. The paper concludes that these countries represent “greenfield sites” in terms of research opportunities for management scholars from all over the world.

This review approach adopted in this paper is unique and represents an attempt to be as inclusive as possible without sacrificing quality. This is the first comprehensive and systematic review of management research in these six countries.