The paper has been published in Suomen Antropologi, Journal of the Finnish Anthropological Society. Vol. 32, Nr. 3, Autumn 2007 (pp. 62-74) and prepared as part of a research project on “Managing Cultural Diversity – Construction of Ethnicity in Malaysia and Sri Lanka???, funded by the Academy of Finland (2005-2010). This paper examines the birth, survival and contemporary reproduction of racial categories in Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The topic is approached from two angles. First, racial categories are analyzed as part and parcel of the colonial narrative and, secondly, as a building block of the national narrative. Author: Timo Kortteinen (Academy Research Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of Helsinki, Finland) [Download]