Alan Keenan

Alan Keenan is Crisis Group's Senior Consultant on Sri Lanka. Based in London, he coordinates and contributes to the organisation's research, publications and advocacy on Sri Lanka. Alan has lived and worked in Sri Lanka for extended periods since first visiting in February 2000. He has a PhD in political theory and has taught at various US colleges and universities before joining Crisis Group in 2006.

Areas of Expertise

Sri Lankan politics Human rights and peacebuilding Transitional justice Democratisation

Select Publications

• “‘Building the Conflict Back Better’: The Politics of Tsunami Relief and Reconstruction in Sri Lanka”, in Dennis B. McGilvray and Michele R. Gamburd eds., Tsunami Recovery in Sri Lanka: Ethnic and Regional Dimensions (New York: Routledge, 2010)
• “The Temptations of Evenhandedness: On the Politics of Human Rights and Peace Advocacy in Sri Lanka,” in Michel Feher, ed., Non Governmental Politics (New York: Zone Books, 2007)
• "Building a Democratic Middle-Ground: Professional Civil Society and the Politics of Human Rights in Sri Lanka's Peace Process", in Jeff Helsing and Julie Mertus (eds.), Human Rights and Conflict: New Actors, Strategies and Ethical Dilemmas (Washington, DC, 2006)
• "No Peace, No War: Have International Donors Failed Sri Lanka's Most Vulnerable?",Boston Review, Vol 30, No 3, Summer 2005
• "Making Sense of Bindunuwewa: From Massacre to Acquittals", Law and Society Trust Review, Vol 15, No 212, June 2005
• "Human Rights and Sacred Cows: Framing Violence, Disappearing Struggles", with Vasuki Nesiah, in Neve Gordon (ed.), From the Margins of Globalization: Critical Perspectives on Human Rights (New York, 2004)
• "Critical Engagement or Constructive Engagement? Sri Lankan Civil Society at the Crossroads of Politics and Principle", Lines Magazine, Vol 3, No 1, May 2004
• Democracy in Question: Democratic Openness in a Time of Political Closure (Stanford, 2003)
• Working on a manuscript entitled "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea: The Politics of Human Rights and Peacebuilding in Sri Lanka"

Languages

• English (native)
• French (fluent/conversant)
• Sinhala (conversant)