Social impact analysis of technological modernization : coastal fishermen of Southern Sri Lanka

Author: Manikku Wadu Amarasiri De Silva

AIT Library Call Number: AIT Thesis no. HS-89-26

Year: 1989

Academic Program: Human Settlement (HS)

Type: Thesis (M.Sc.) – Asian Institute of Technology, 1982

Examination Committee: Karl E. Weber (Chairperson); Raymon W. Archer, Hiran D. Dias (Examination Committee Members)

Abstract: The study highlights the social changes that have taken place in the village of Mirissa South, a coastal fishing village in Southern Sri Lanka, as a result of the introduction of modern methods of fishing after 1959. The conclusions are drawn by a comparison of the traditional system(i.e. 1930-1959) of fishing with the modern one (i.e. 1960-1980) . on the basis of a theoretical framework that consists of four component parts, viz. the resources, relationships, ideology and the power structure. The resources are viewed as an independent variance while the rest are considered dependent. The study highlights the social changes that have taken place in the village of Mirissa South, a coastal fishing village in Southern Sri Lanka, as a result of the introduction of modern methods of fishing after 1959. The conclusions are drawn by a comparison of the traditional system(i.e. 1930-1959) of fishing with the modern one (i.e. 1960-1980) . on the basis of a theoretical framework that consists of four component parts, viz. the resources, relationships, ideology and the power structure. The resources are viewed as an independent variance while the rest are considered dependent. The findings of tbe study show that, as a result of the modernization programme, the social hierarchy has been overturned. The new elites of the village , the deep-sea fishermen has outpaced the traditional elite, the beach seine fishermen. The new technology has minimized the necessity for fishermen to be organized on traditional principles of solidarity and belief systems. ln the absence of new mechanisms of social integration. the society that is organized on the modern principles, has led to a process of individuation and an annih1Lat1on of the traditional belief systems. The total outcome, however, has been the manifestation of social inequality, unemployment and poverty in spite of a wider distribution of resources. The study suggests that it is necessary to install modern means of social integration into the social system as r

Scholarship Donor(s): Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)

Note: A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

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Search keywords index: Manikku Wadu Amarasiri De Silva Social impact analysis of technological modernization : coastal fishermen of Southern Sri Lanka Human Settlement (HS) Technological innovations — Social aspects — Sri Lanka, Southern;”Fisheries — Technological innovations”