Aspects of local government and politics in china: 1955–58

This study, based on work in six villages, seeks insights into the likely effect of the introduction of prospective land‐, water‐, and crop‐management technologies, being researched at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi‐Arid Tropics, on the existing village labour‐use patterns in one major relevant region: peninsular India. Explicit attention is given to the similarities and differences between small and large farms and their relevance to the adoption of the prospective new technologies.

Regional variation in labour utilisation reveals a tremendous employment‐creating potential in the existing tank and well irrigation systems in the Alfisols of peninsular India. The prospective technologies should increase employment, compared with existing technologies, by at least 100 per cent in the Alfisols and by over 300per cent in the deep Vertisols— but with some increase in the seasonal variability of labour demand. Given the existing availability of labour, there will be, with the improved watershed technologies, major farm labour bottlenecks. These should eventually generate increased wage rates and employment potentials. However, even temporary adverse effects on the timelessness of operations could be critical to the success of a double‐cropping and/or intercropping technology aiming at greatly increased yields. This would create demands for selective mechanisation, for example, of threshing.     

Limited but Evolving: The Political Economy of Social Protections in Nepal

Nepal’s awakening to growing social protection needs occurred only lately with most policies introduced in the 1990s. While comparable by Asian and particularly South Asian standards, these protections are limited and inconsistent. This article takes stock of social protection policies in Nepal with particular emphasis on the extent of coverage relative to needs. It explores the political economy, demand and political contexts to explain why social protections have developed the way they have in Nepal’s modern history. The understanding of Nepal’s struggle with this globally contested issue also helps draw parallels to other low-income countries.     

Pre-capitalist Reproduction on the Nepal Tarai: Semi-feudal Agriculture in an Era of Globalisation

This article highlights the continued significance of pre-capitalist formations in shaping the trajectory of economic transition in peripheral regions, even in an era of neo-liberal globalisation. There is a tendency for Marxist scholars to assume the inevitable “dominance” of capitalism over older modes of production. Using a case study from Nepal's far eastern Tarai, this paper seeks to understand the reproduction of feudal social relations in a region which is both accessible and integrated into regional and global markets. The paper traces the early subordination of indigenous groups to feudalism from the eighteenth century onwards, and the political and ideological processes through which these social relations were reinforced. Through examining the historical role of feudal-colonial alliances, however, the paper notes that pre-capitalist reproduction in Nepal is a dynamic process, actively negotiated and reinforced by the external imperatives of capitalist expansion itself as well as through the entrenched political power of landed classes. Today feudal and capitalist formations co-exist and articulate, with surplus divided between landlords and non-farm employers. Understanding the complex dynamics of feudal or “semi-feudal” reproduction in an era of globalisation is crucial if one is to identify avenues for collective mobilisation against inequitable pre-capitalist and capitalist class relations.     

Exclusionary Democratization in Nepal, 1990–2002

Procedural processes like periodic elections based on universal adult franchise, political rights and civil liberties may not ensure the inclusion of minorities in governance of multiethnic democracies. The Nepali case shows that exclusion from governance may in fact increase in new democracies. However, as the open polity facilitates awareness and mobilization among the disadvantaged groups, the over all effect, despite the exclusion, is democratization. The exclusion, however, could lead to the derailment of democracy as sections of the excluded groups question the legitimacy of the process that excludes them while others support non-democratic forces. This study discusses the role of historical legacies, majoritarian political institutions, informal norms, and political elite attitudes and behaviour for the continuation or increase in political exclusion in Nepal.     

On the expansion of species protection in Nepal: Advances and pitfalls of new efforts to implement and comply with CITES

Abstract

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) has proven particularly difficult to implement due to the complex legal requirements that it imposes on its parties. As with many other nations, Nepal lacks national implementing legislation, which has greatly hindered compliance with the treaty's provisions in the country and, indirectly, in the region. Here we explore several case studies of actual and potential CITES violations in Nepal that have come to light in the past decade, and review new draft legislation that is designed to implement the Convention and close gaps in enforcement. We predict that some gaps will remain regarding implementation and compliance with CITES in Nepal, and make several recommendations to address these issues via rule‐making procedures during the formulation of Regulations and via the actions of the CITES Coordination Council, a provision in the draft Act that is designed to improve cross‐sectoral cooperation.     

NGOization and de-NGOization of Public Action in Nepal: The Role of Organizational Culture in Civil Society Politicality

Abstract

This article explores the relation between organizational culture and the politicality of civil society organizations, or rather their social construction as political. It is based on a case study of a network (NW) of human rights NGOs in Nepal during the last few years of a Maoist insurgency and the period of autocratic rule by ex-king Gyanendra, and its immediate aftermath. Through detailed ethnographic material, this article highlights the central role of the NW's organizational culture in allowing it to act in ways that were recognized as political. Specifically, it shows how a process of ‘de-NGOization’ of everyday practices and values enabled NW to become a credible actor for political change during a crucial period of Nepal's history. This article contributes to the ethnography of civil society, urges that more attention be paid to the relation of civil society to the political domain, and suggests ways forward in researching this topic.     

尼泊尔投资环境及中尼经贸现状分析

尼泊尔是我国的友好邻邦,经济发展较为落后,同时也正因为如此,尼泊尔对我国希望进军南亚的企业来说是个巨大市场。中尼之间经济具有较大的互补性,双边经贸合作存在较大的发展空间。本文主要介绍尼泊尔的贸易管理制度和投资管理制度以及中尼经贸合作的现状和影响双边经贸合作的因素等,供有关部门和企业参考。     

Swords into plowshares: The organizational transformation of rebel groups into political parties

How do the features of a rebel group and the external political environment interact to affect the internal dynamics within a rebel group after it transforms into a political party? In this paper we combine literature on organizational change in parties in new democracies with the emerging literature on rebel group-to-party transformation, to develop a framework by which to understand these dynamics. Using the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) as a case study, we find that the legacies of the conflict, the organizational legacies of the rebel group, and the post civil war incentives for electoral gain, create political cleavages within parties that generate considerable organizational centripetal pressures, pressures that will need to be accommodated in new party organizational structures.     

Identity,dignity and development as trajectory: Bihar as a model for democratic progress in Nepal? Part II. Nepal’s promise

Part I of this article traced the experience of India’s Bihar state as it shifted in the last decade of the twentieth century from a region dominated by landowning upper castes and plagued by entrenched poverty to one led by newly emergent middle castes. In a two-step process, these groups first attained a significant dignity and self-respect and then it became possible in the 2000s to turn to economic growth and improvement in living standards. Part II makes a case that Nepal, long suffering under conditions similar to those hobbling Bihar until recently, might follow a similar two-stage path of dignity and then development.     

Resilience and disaster risk reduction: reclassifying diversity and national identity in post-earthquake Nepal

This paper discusses disaster resilience in the context of disaster risk reduction. It focuses on how the Nepali state, through disaster risk reduction and resilience strategies, is reinventing the ‘diversity’ question in Nepal. Disaster risk management and disaster risk reduction are being used to create a specific form of national identity that paradoxically both segregates and excludes ethnic and traditional communities through a variety of strategies of paternalism and inclusivity. The emerging state-led use of exploiting and capturing ethnic and indigenous ‘traditional knowledge’ is part of the government’s disaster risk strategy. This is sanctioned by multilateral bodies, which further legitimates subtle practices of exclusion through state-led monitoring. This has wider implications for contested narratives on Nepali democracy and federalism.