This episode revisits Sri Lanka’s dramatic 2022 Aragalaya uprising to understand how decades of post independence “ethnocratic elite democracy” set the stage for mass mobilization against the Rajapaksa regime. Why did a society long marked by political apathy suddenly generate a broad, cross class civil society coalition capable of forcing a peaceful transfer of power? Professor Jayadeva Uyangoda traces the deeper history of de democratization, explains the democratic imaginaries that shaped the protests, and reflects on how Sri Lanka’s experience speaks to youth led movements across South and Southeast Asia. Tune in to explore what lessons these struggles offer for those seeking to revitalize democracy under increasingly repressive conditions.