To capture this paradox, we connect the literature on rebel governance with anthropological debates about divine kingship. Both are highly relevant to the LTTE case: the movement created de facto state institutions to mimic governance, but simul- taneously deployed an elaborate transcendental register of sacrifice, meaning, and intractable power wielded by a mythical leader. At the heart of this unsteadiness, we posit, lies the paradox between the systematic tenets of rational governance and the capri- cious potential of sublime violence. Despite its aura of natural order, sovereignty is ultimately self-referential and thus somewhat arbi- trary and potentially unstable. This article uses the case of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to make a conceptual argument about sovereignty.
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