The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal and the Himalaya – Kathmandu, Nepal
Since the fall of royalty in May 2008, Nepal has theoretically become a republican state made up of equal citizens. Nepali society is still based on caste (and ethnicity) but the ideological context has changed considerably. The egalitarians values, which have been operative for some decades, and the new political environment have gradually caused a …
Caste in Contemporary Nepal: Hierarchy and Equality Read More »
Several South Asian countries have pinned a hefty portion of their future growth to hydropower from dams (Crow and Singh 2009; Pomeranz 2009). To ensure their success, state and corporate authorities have privatized many natural resources formerly considered to be common property, a development that dispossesses rural residents of land and water access, and delivers …
Water Unites, Water Divides: Resistance to the West Seti and Upper Karnali Dams in Nepal Read More »
Since 1999 (2055 BS), the Swiss-funded Sustainable Soil Management Programme (SSMP), which is implemented by HELVETAS Swiss Intercooperation, has been promoting a decentralised extension system, the Farmer-to-Farmer approach (FtF), as a means to disseminate appropriate agricultural technologies to mid-hill farmers unreached by government extension services. The importance of this approach has been realised by district …
This paper problematises the recent participatory turn in conservation policy and practices through the experiences and struggles of Sonaha ethnic minorities in relation to Bardiya National Park, the largest protected area in the Nepalese lowland. Claims of Sonaha elders suggest that their long standing occupancy and association with the riverine and riparian territory of the …
Politics of Conservation and Space: National Park and Sonaha Ethnic Minorities Read More »
In his seminal book Literature, Popular Culture and Society, Leo Lowenthal argues that studies of the representation of society, state, or economy in the literature of a particular country or time contribute to our knowledge of ‘the kind of perception which a specific social group—writers—has of specific social phenomena’ and therefore to our knowledge of …
The number of Nepali youth seeking foreign employment overseas, especially in the Gulf countries and Malaysia, is higher now than in any other time in history; this accounts for the escalating volume of remittance received by the country, which is also at a record high. Among the various frameworks that have been put forward to …
The main theme of this paper is to focus on how gender relations of Rana Tharu society were changing to reflect the new material conditions and cultural ideology. The key question I intend to answer is: did these changes have any implications for the status of Rana Tharu women? The labour arrangement between men and …
Over the last decade and half, there has been a converging international and national interest to establish a youth policy agenda. The first initiative of youth-specific policy was in the Ninth Government Plan in 1998, in which youth were separated from adolescents and given a subsection, 14.2.1 ‘Youth mobilization’. It identified education, culture, employment, health, …
Mobilising for What: A Discursive History of Nepal’s Youth Policy Read More »
Although public schools have been rapidly on the decline in Nepal, this paper traces the circumstances under which a school has emerged as a quality education provider in the region. Positive deviance (PD), which first gained prominence in the field of nutrition and public health, provides the theoretical grounding to understand why and how certain …
Positive Deviance: ‘Success’ in Unexpected Places Read More »
Recent studies of Nepal’s labour market indicate that unemployment rates are highest for the age group between 20 and 29 years, with almost half of the young population being reported to be underutilised. In search for an adequate solution to the persisting problem of youth un-/underemployment, public actors, including national policy-makers and international partner organisations, …
Nepal’s Change Agents: Educated Youth and their Involvements in the Local Labour Market Read More »