Dramatist, journalist, sociologist, educationist and social worker, Ravindra Ranasinha writes profusely on the current political situation in Sri Lanka. He concentrates widely on multicultural aspect of Sri Lankan society in order to reconcile the conflicting ethnic groups in the country and focuses his post-modernist thoughts on making school education a multicultural sphere enabling children to accept and appreciate diversity in the social environment. Ravindra's thinking on cultural politics has made him to write on the influence of media on shaping the minds of the people in the current political context and he continuously queries whether Sri Lanka could survive in a mono-cultural sphere. These thoughts on ideology extends to the views of Louise Althusser, a post-modern Marxist critique and Ravindra is much influenced by the Frankfurt school. Walter Benjamin's lectures on 'Author as Producer' and 'Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' have influenced Ravindra heavily and he has translated and published these texts enriching the Sinhala literature on art criticism. He has translated texts from Michel Foucault (History of Sexuality) and Simone de Beauvoir (Second Sex). He is also a social activist attached to the 'Friends of Tibet' supporting the cause of the Tibetans and the activities of 'Design & People' in Sri Lanka.

Writings: www.designandpeople.org/ravindra/