Making New Nepal

Making New Nepal PDF Author: Amanda Thérèse Snellinger
Publisher: University of Washington Press
ISBN: 0295743093
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
One of the most important political transitions to occur in South Asia in recent decades was the ouster of Nepal’s monarchy in 2006 and the institution of a democratic secular republic in 2008. Based on extensive ethnographic research between 2003 and 2015, Making New Nepal provides a snapshot of an activist generation’s political coming-of-age during a decade of civil war and ongoing democratic street protests. Amanda Snellinger illustrates this generation’s entrée into politics through the stories of five young revolutionary activists as they shift to working within the newly established party system. She explores youth in Nepali national politics as a social mechanism for political reproduction and change, demonstrating the dynamic nature of democracy as a radical ongoing process.

Creating a "new Nepal"

Creating a Author: Susan Hangen
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description


Reciting the Goddess

Reciting the Goddess PDF Author: Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190844558
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Reciting the Goddess presents the first critical study of the Svasthanivratakatha (SVK), a sixteenth-century Hindu narrative textual tradition. The extensive SVK manuscript tradition offers a rare opportunity to observe the making of a specific, distinct Hindu religious tradition. Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz argues that the SVK serves as a lens through which we can observe the creation of modern 'Hinduism' in the Himalayas, as the text both mirrored and informed key moments in the self-conscious creation of Nepal as the 'world's only Hindu kingdom' in the late medieval and early modern period. Birkenholtz mines the literary historiography that is contained within the SVK text itself, chronicling the text's literary and narrative development as well as the development of the Svasthani goddess tradition. She outlines the process whereby the SVK gradually transformed into a Purana text, and became a critical source for Nepali Hindu belief and identity. She also examines the elusive character of the goddess Svasthani whose identity is tied to the pan-Hindu goddess tradition, and the representation of women in the SVK and the ways in which the text influenced local and regional debates on the ideal of Hindu womanhood. Reciting the Goddess presents Nepal's celebrated SVK as a micro-level illustration of the powerful ways in which people, place, and literature intersect to produce new ideas and concepts of identity and place, even in a historically non-literate culture.

Many Tongues, One People

Many Tongues, One People PDF Author: Arjun Guneratne
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501725300
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
The Tharu of lowland Nepal are a group of culturally and linguistically diverse people who, only a few generations ago, would not have acknowledged each other as belonging to the same ethnic group. Today the Tharu are actively redefining themselves as a single ethnic group in Nepal's multiethnic polity. In Many Tongues, One People, Arjun Guneratne argues that shared cultural symbols—including religion, language, and common myths of descent—are not a necessary condition for the existence of a shared sense of peoplehood. The many diverse and distinct socio-cultural groups sharing the name "Tharu" have been brought together, Guneratne asserts, by a common relationship to the state and a shared experience of dispossession and exploitation that transcends their cultural differences. Tharu identity, the author shows, has developed in opposition to the activities of a modernizing, centralizing state and through interaction with other ethnic groups that have immigrated to the Tarai region where the Tharu live.This book"s claims have wide implications for the study of ethnic identity and are applicable far beyond Nepal. The emergence of the category of Native American, for example, may be considered an analogous case because that ethnic identity, like the Tharu, subsumes people of different cultural origin, and has been defined both through the state and against it.

The Rise of Ethnic Politics in Nepal

The Rise of Ethnic Politics in Nepal PDF Author: Susan I. Hangen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135181594
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

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Book Description
The relationship between ethnic politics and democracy presents a paradox for scholars and policy makers: ethnic politics frequently emerge in new democracies, and yet are often presumed to threaten these new democracies. As ethnic politics is becoming increasingly central to Nepali politics, this book argues it has the potential to strengthen rather than destabilize democracy. Drawing on years of ethnographic fieldwork, Susan Hangen focuses on the ethnic political party Mongol National Organization (MNO), which consists of multiple ethnic groups and has been mobilizing support in rural east Nepal. By investigating the party’s discourse and its struggles to gain support and operate within a village government, the book provides a window onto the processes of democratization in rural Nepal in the 1990s. This work presents a more nuanced understanding of how ethnic parties operate on the ground, arguing that ethnic parties overlap considerably with social movements, and that the boundary between parties and movements should be reconceptualised. The analysis demonstrates that ethnic parties are not antithetical to democracy and that democratization can proceed in diverse and unexpected ways. Providing an in-depth discussion of the indigenous nationalities movement, one of Nepal’s most significant social movements, this work will be of great interest to scholars and students of Asian Politics, South Asian Studies, and Political Anthropology.

The Politics of Change

The Politics of Change PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 181

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Book Description


All Roads Lead North

All Roads Lead North PDF Author: Amish Raj Mulmi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197654207
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
During the June 2020 territorial dispute over Kalapani, India blamed tensions on a newly assertive Nepal's deepening relations with China. But beyond the accusations and grandstanding, this reflects a new reality: the power equations in South Asia have been redrawn, to make space for China. Nepal did not turn northwards overnight. Its ties with China have deep historical roots built on Buddhism, dating to the early first millennium. While India's unofficial 2015 blockade provided momentum to the rift with Delhi, Nepal has long wanted deeper ties with Beijing, to counteract India's oppressive intimacy. With China's growing South Asian and global ambitions, Nepal now has a new primary bilateral partner-and Nepalis are forging a path towards modernity with its help, both in the remote borderlands and in the cities. All Roads Lead North offers a long view of Nepal's foreign relations, today underpinned by China's world-power status. Sharing never- before-told stories about Tibetan guerrilla fighters, failed coup leaders and trans- Himalayan traders, Nepal analyst Amish Raj Mulmi examines the histories binding mountain communities together across the Sino-Nepali border. Part history, part journalistic account, Mulmi's is a complex, compelling and rigorously researched study of a small country caught between two neighbourhood giants.

Battles of the New Republic

Battles of the New Republic PDF Author: Prashant Jha
Publisher: Hurst
ISBN: 1849045240
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 386

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Book Description
Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal is a story of Nepal's transformation from war to peace, monarchy to republic, a Hindu kingdom to a secular state, and a unitary to a potentially federal state. Part-reportage, part-history, part-analysis, part-memoir, and part-biography of the key characters, the book breaks new ground in political writing from the region. With access to the most powerful leaders in the country as well as diplomats, it gives an unprecedented glimpse into Kathmandu's high politics. But this is coupled with ground-level reportage on the lives of ordinary citizens of the hills and the plains, striving for a democratic, just and equitable society. It tracks the hard grind of political negotiations at the heart of the instability in Nepal. It traces the rise of a popular rebellion, its integration into the mainstream, and its steady decline. It investigates Nepal's status as a partly-sovereign country, and reveals India's overwhelming role. It examines the angst of having to prove one's loyalties to one's own country, and exposes the Hindu hill upper-caste dominated power structures. Battles of the New Republic is a story of the deepening of democracy, of the death of a dream, and of that fundamental political dilemma - who exercises power, to what end, and for whose benefit.

Political Transformations in Nepal

Political Transformations in Nepal PDF Author: Mom Bishwakarma
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429756151
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
This book offers an in-depth analysis of the interrelationship between long-standing caste discrimination in Nepal, its vicious circle of impact upon the Dalit groups and the changes brought by the recent political transformations. It explores the links between identity politics, Dalit struggle and Dalit rights although Dalit identity is contested within the group. The author explores the types of institutional measures that would be required to achieve social justice for Dalit in Nepal and analyses the underlying causes and nature of the deeply entrenched social, economic, education and political inequality manifested in the life cycle of Dalit. The book examines contemporary political transformations, including state restructuring and federalism processes, and explores different models of federalism by a variety of experts in detail; this is done with a view to making specific findings on the required institutional reform measures for the improvement of Dalit inclusion and representation in state mechanisms and policies. This book contributes to the literature on the caste and Dalit discourse by proposing that the hegemonic caste structure is deeply entrenched and needs to be deracinated by asserting unified group politics of recognition in Nepal. Political Transformations in Nepal will be of interest to academics working on South Asian Politics, Identity Politics, and Asian Social Policy.

Kathmandu Dilemma

Kathmandu Dilemma PDF Author: Ranjit Rae
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780143460152
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
'...unmatched in its meticulous and careful research into the wellsprings of a truly unique relationship between two neighbouring states.' SHYAM SARAN 'Ranjit Rae's portrayal of India-Nepal relations from the Indian perspective is meticulous, nuanced and insightful." S.D. MUNI 'Ranjit Rae breaks down the paradox of India's very intimate yet troubled relationship with Nepal.' C. RAJA MOHAN The first two decades of the new millennium have witnessed a dramatic socio-political transformation of Nepal. A violent Maoist insurgency ended peacefully, a new constitution abolished the monarchy and established a secular federal democratic republic. Nevertheless, political stability and a peace dividend have both remained elusive. Nepal is also buffeted by changing geopolitics, including the US-China contestation for influence and the uneasy relationship between India and China. As a close neighbour, India has been deeply associated with the seminal changes in Nepal, and the bilateral relationship has seen many twists and turns. Partly a memoir, this book examines India's perspective on these developments, in the context of the civilizational and economic underpinnings of the India-Nepal relationship, as well as issues that continue to prevent this relationship from exploiting its full potential. Though there are several Nepalese accounts that deal with this subject, there are few from an Indian point of view. Kathmandu Dilemma fills this gap.