Conference Year: 2012

The paper argues that multi-dimensional inequality in results is a function of multi-dimensional inequalities and inequities in the socio-political and economic structures. But each of these factors impact differently in different social groups. In Nepal, while inter-ethnic/geographic/religious group inequality may be a result of political design, geographic remoteness and intra-group cultural /religious/social practices, gender and …

Design and Delivery of Affirmative Action for Gender and Inter-caste Equality in Nepal Read More »

The term “affirmative action” has been widely discussed in Nepal as a strategy to mainstream the marginalized people such as Dalits. Such discussions have focused on the socio-political structure of Nepal where the underlying causes of marginalization are supposed to have germinated. While it is largely true that Dalits at the bottom layer of social …

Affirmative Action in Nepal: What Does It Mean for Dalits at the Grassroots Level? Read More »

Indian society is characterized by the continuum of caste hierarchy for over two millennia. In the source model of Hindu society, this hierarchy is kinked separating people into savarna and avarna (non-varna); touchable caste Hindus and the untouchable Dalits. Besides Dalits, who constituted the lowermost rung of the Hindu society and accounted for 16 percent …

Pursuing Equality in the Land of Hierarchy: Positive Discrimination Policies in India Read More »

When choosing which students to admit, employees to hire, candidates to slate, or firms to patronize, the social identity of those selected can be a matter of great importance. As a consequence, regulations intended to achieve more diversity in the ranks of the chosen — policies going under the rubric of “affirmative action,” or “positive …

The Simple Economics of Affirmative Action Policies Read More »

The paper begins with a summary of evidence on economic disparities between broad caste groups. Measuring disparity is relatively straightforward; estimating discrimination is not. I briefly discuss some of the latest methods for gauging economic discrimination, and present the evidence on discrimination in the Indian context. What this evidence reveals is that lip-service to merit …

Caste Discrimination and Exclusion: Assessment of Affirmative Action as a Remedy Read More »

A complicated system for electoral quotas was introduced during the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal.  Both excluded groups and the elite were given quotas in the proportional part of a mixed electoral system. The system did produce a more inclusive assembly than any parliament before but a targeted system for affirmative actions designed to …

Affirmative Action and Power Sharing Instruments: Possible Electoral Arrangements for Nepal Read More »

The paper uses the constitutional Right to Equality as a prism to investigate Nepal’s post-conflict process of state-restructuring aimed at securing social justice and inclusion for the many marginalised groups in the country. The core argument is that the embattled – and yet unfulfilled – shift from the predominantly negative notion of equality under the …

Legal Equality between Recognition and Redistribution: Constitutional Drafting and Adjudication in India and Nepal Read More »

The classification of societies around categories such as caste, ethnicity, race, social class and gender is a pervasive feature of sociality as well as governmentality.  Perhaps more starkly in Nepal, social classification by the state is critical to understanding of the past structuring of the inequality, as well as future initiatives for equity.  Nepal has …

Breaking Hierarchy, Making Identity: Social Classification and Challenges for Affirmative Action in Nepal Read More »

The policies of affirmative action or reservations seem to create an inherent conflict between the processes of redistribution and the demands for recognition. While it is a fact that the policies of reservation have created new opportunities for the specific disadvantaged social groups, these however have come at a cost of causing the more intangible injury of mis-recognition. …

Can We De-Stigmatise Reservations in India? Read More »

This paper describes the various social inequalities that exist in Nepal’s higher education and provides a critical analysis of the ways in which affirmative action is posited as an obvious response to address these inequalities. The paper delves into the ways in which inequality in education is understood and debated in the Nepali context, often …

Beyond Affirmative Action: Overcoming Social Inequalities in Higher Education Read More »