The politics of the post-conflict and post-disaster nexus in Nepal

The intersection of the post-conflict reconstruction processes established in Nepal’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2006, and the post-disaster reconstruction effort that swung into action following the country’s devastating earthquakes in 2015 provides an important opportunity to observe to what extent synergies between the two reconstruction processes have been successfully exploited. This paper critically examines these two processes, demonstrating that despite a growing recognition of the value of linking these processes by researchers, in practice they often remain separate. It shows how certain actors have framed the post-disaster reconstruction as unrelated to post-conflict activities in order to avoid what they perceive as the risk of politicising – and thus delaying – the post-disaster reconstruction process. The paper suggests that this is a mistake. The process of post-disaster reconstruction is innately political and intricately entwined with the very same issues and activities the post-conflict reconstruction process attempted to address. Moreover, we argue that the entire process is taking place within a political context which is a product of the as-yet unresolved post-conflict polity. Any reconstruction process that does not take this into account risks being undermined by the same challenges that underpinned the country’s conflict.     

A Review of: “Stefan Aust. Baader-Meinhof: The Inside Story of the R.A.F. Uwe Steinhoff. On the Ethics of War and Terrorism. Seth G. Jones. Counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Ekaterina Stepanova. Terrorism in Asymmetrical Conflict: Ideological and Structural Aspects. Laura K. Donohue. The Cost of Counterterrorism: Power,Politics and Liberty.”

Approaches to terrorism and peacebuilding have a complex relationship with each other, which may be explained according to four categories outlined in this article. These range from blocking each others’ aims, nullifying terrorism, supporting a very limited, or a broader peace process. Each of these categories has implications for the inclusion and reconciliation of a wide range of actors and the hybrid nature of the emerging peace. This relates to the critical approach of using theory to create emancipatory forms of peace, which is used as a basis for the examination of the production of hybridity via the interaction of approaches to terrorism and peacebuilding in five cases in this article. These include Sri Lanka, Kashmir, the Middle East, Nepal, and Northern Ireland. We argue that “post-liberal” possibilities for a hybrid form of peace (which are inherent in such conflicts) offer a “post-terrorist” potential for peace processes.     

Governing development: neoliberalism,microcredit, and rational economic woman

This paper addresses the emergence of microcredit programmes as a preferred strategy for poverty alleviation world-wide. Taking the paradigmatic case of Nepal, it engages a genealogical approach to trace how Nepalese planners' enduring concerns about rural development intersect in surprising (and gendered) ways with donors' present focus on deepening financial markets. In the resulting microcredit model, the onus for rural lending is devolved from commercial banks to subsidized 'rural development banks' and women borrowers become the target of an aggressive 'selfhelp' approach to development. As a governmental strategy, microcredit thus constitutes social citizenship and women's needs in a manner consistent with neoliberalism. Drawing on ethnographic research, the paper also considers the progressive and regressive possibilities in the articulation of such constructed subjectivities with local cultural ideologies and social processes. Such an investigation can in turn provide a foundation for articulating a more normative agenda for development studies – grounded in the perspectives of those in subordinate social locations.     

Identity,dignity and development as trajectory: Bihar as a model for democratic progress in Nepal? Part I. Bihar's experience

Down into the last decades of the twentieth century, Bihar remained India's poorest state and one under the domination of its landowning upper castes – a well-nigh hopeless case for development in the view of most outside observers. But in the 1990s, a fresh leader gained a new dignity for the Backward castes, even as the state's poverty and corruption continued unabated. And then in the mid-2000s, another Backward leader was able to combine this societal uplift with a remarkable level of economic development. This article in two parts endeavours to make 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.     

Pattern and Trend of Deliberate Self-Harm in Western Nepal

Abstract:  Acts of deliberate self-harm (DSH) not only affect the people directly involved, but also have grave psychological and social impact on the family and community. In the present study, a cohort of 173 cases of DSH reported from April 2002 to March 2005 was retrospectively analyzed, by perusing the medicolegal register maintained by the Emergency Department at the Western Regional Hospital, Pokhara in the Western Development Region of Nepal. The data were entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 10.1. More than two-thirds of total cases were females. About 60% of cases were observed in the age group of 15–24 years. Poisoning (89.6%) was the most preferred method of deliberate self-harm. Organophosphate pesticides were consumed in nearly two-thirds of the poisoning cases. The majority of cases were reported during the months of May to July and had occurred during the last quarter of the day. More than a twofold increase was observed in the frequency of cases during the 3-year study period. The said observations were compared and contrasted with the available literature across the globe. The presentation is concluded by highlighting the limitations encountered in Nepal and the scope to overcome the same.     

论尼泊尔与印度的关系及其发展趋势

君主制时期,尼泊尔同印度的关系绕着“控制与反控制”展开。尼泊尔建立联邦民主共和国后,政治外交政策也显示出和以往不同的灵活性,主动发展与印度的关系。普拉昌达政府旗帜鲜明地提出了发展独立自主的外交政策的政治观点,内帕尔政府从要求得到更多的经济发展自主权的角度,向印度的“控制”政策提出了反抗。     

Reconsidering the links between poverty,international labour migration,and agrarian change: critical insights from Nepal

The role of international labour migration in processes leading to the (re)production of rural poverty in the rural South continues to shape critical academic and policy debate. While many studies have established that migration provides an important pathway to rural prosperity, they insufficiently analyse the profound effects that migration and remittances have on agrarian and rural livelihoods. This article uses the case of rural Nepal, where over half of the households are involved in foreign labour migration, as a ‘window’ to understand the processes shaping how migration effects poverty. The paper analyses how migration generates outcomes across the domains of rural people's changing relationship to land and agriculture, their experience of migration, and rural labour markets to advance our arguments. First, it argues that migration leads to the commodification of land, generating changes in patterns of land uses and tenancy relations. With respect to rural people's engagement with agriculture, migration generates both processes of ‘deactivation’ and ‘repeasantization’. Second, foreign migration offers an exit from poverty for some while also creating processes of deeper impoverishment for others. Third, migration leads to structural changes in rural labour markets, reducing the supply of agrarian labour. Consequently, in contrast to the simplifying ‘narrative’ accounts of a migration pathway out of poverty, this paper concludes that the effects triggered by migration are highly contradictory, providing an exit from poverty when linked to diversification strategies, while engendering rising inequality and rural differentiation.     

中、印、尼佛教文化交流的特点及影响——来自三国学者的观点

中国学界过去对印度佛教研究较多,对尼泊尔佛教研究不多;对中印、中尼佛教交流研究较多,而对中、印、尼三国之间的佛教文化交流的研究则不多。2019年11月25日,由中国友谊促进会和教育部人文社科重点研究基地四川大学南亚研究所共同举办的"加强佛教文化交流,促进民心相融相通——中印尼佛教文化研讨会"在成都召开。来自印度德里大学、和平与冲突研究所、贝纳勒斯印度教大学、新那烂陀佛教大学、加尔各答城市学院和尼泊尔的特里布文大学、莲花学院、蓝毗尼佛教大学以及中国的中国藏语系高级佛学院、中国藏学研究中心、四川大学、上海大学、西南民族大学等三个国家18个单位的50名代表参加了会议。此次会议围绕中、印、尼三国"佛教源流与影响"、"佛教传承与艺术"以及"佛教融合与发展"三个议题展开交流,讨论的内容丰富、信息量大,为三国的友好交流作出了积极贡献。三国学者的观点主要集中在中、印、尼佛教交流的历史起源、特点、影响、问题和建议五个方面。     

Why “I” became a combatant: A study of memoirs written by Nepali Maoist combatants

This article analyzes combatants’ accounts of their engagement with the Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist—CPN (M). We use Self-Categorization Theory (SCT) as a framework and thematic analysis as a method to examine how social relationships and contextual factors contributed to political party identification during the ten-year-long Maoist insurgency in Nepal. Based on the study of autobiographical narratives written by Nepali Maoist combatants, we demonstrate that a) key social and political experiences cumulatively evoked feeling positively inclined to partisan attachment; b) CPN (M) party ideology, which was presented as a cure-all to socio-political difficulties, actuated the predisposed people’s partisan alignment; c) families were largely unsupportive of their members’ intention to take part in the war; and when they participated, the family responded with antagonism; and d) party ideologues of the CPN (M), who met the partisan-leaning individuals as close friends, accelerated and sustained their friends’ motivation to become involved in the armed conflict. Together the findings culminate in a view that engagement with CPN (M) during the insurgency occurred despite resistance from family and increased exponentially because of societal and political experiences, the strong appeal of party ideology, and social network dynamics.     

Contestation and resistance: the politics of and around transitional justice in Nepal

The shift to adopting holistic approaches in transitional justice indicates an intention to pay (greater) attention to politics in transitional justice. However, transitional justice actors frequently encounter difficulties in doing so, misread politics and misconstrue where to locate it in post-conflict contexts. Using research from Nepal I argue that there is considerable political activity taking place that challenges transitional justice on multiple scales. This research demonstrates that actors frequently seek to advance their interests and make claims utilising the process, institutions and language of transitional justice. In particular, I draw upon resistance literature and contentious politics literature to elucidate the complex relationships and interactions at the local and national level, which are often omitted from discussions about transitional justice in Nepal. Accordingly, I argue it is more useful to consider actors’ actions in relation to transitional justice on a continuum where there is co-option, resistance, contestation and compliance with a wide range of variation within each.