NCCR North-South Dialogue No. 32

by Prabin Manandhar
Bern, NCCR North-South 2011

This Working Paper maps out debates on rural development in Nepal. The Paper reviews poverty, inequality and exclusion, contemporary rural life and rural development via the state, non-state actors and movements, and experiences of rural people. Nepal is a multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country, but at the same time, it is argued that the 'melting pot' concept of inclusion is not a pragmatic approach in the face of Nepal's diversity and disparities. Although the Maoist movement was based essentially on a notion of overturning the exploitative and oppressive structures of class and gender, it also drew on the language of caste and ethnicity. Now ethnicity is one of the dominant agendas in the present discourse about restructuring the Nepali state. The central thrust of the ethnic movement is to ensure that the ethnic minorities are included after their very long exclusion from the country's political and economic power.

Manandhar P. 2011. Contested Rural Development in Nepal. 2nd edition. NCCR North-South Dialogue 32 (Working Paper, Research Project 1 - Contested Rural Development). Bern and Zurich, Switzerland: NCCR North-South.

Language
English

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