Hidden Himalayan Transcripts: Strategies of Social Opposition in Mustang (Nepal), 19th–20th Centuries (original) (raw)

Höfer, A. (2004). The caste hierarchy and the state in Nepal (2nd ed.). Himal Books

Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology

In this article, I have analyzed András Höfer’s ‘The caste hierarchy and the state in Nepal’ through a post-modernist lens. The book is a study of the Muluki Ain (MA) of 1854. Through this review, I analyze the book as well as the MA and its relevance in the modern society. Rather than summarizing Höfer’s ideas, I intended to bring out the nuances and analyses which can aid in the understanding of caste from the perspective of doxa and habitus. Despite the government’s efforts to eradicate caste based discrimination through various laws and by-laws, the rules in MA of 1854 are still embedded in the minds of people. Through the perspective of power, habitus and doxa, I attempt to explain how the caste based discrimination still creeps into the modern Nepal as a quotidian affair. In this article, I also critique some of the conundrums that exists in the book as well as the MA.

Statistically Left Outs and Socio-Historically Legitimized Groups in Nepal

Far Western Review

This article explores the realities underpinning the statistically left outs and socio-historically legitimized groups in Nepal by relating the Vedic and Western theoretical perspectives to perceive the reality at the grassroots level. It does so by summarizing the Vedic perspectives and various sociological theories and then looking at the local issues linking with the Western perspectives with my reflection. It reveals that experiential knowledge, globalization, and legitimization are the major sociological aspects influencing the Structure of Nepalese society. The article concludes that the ruling class prepares Statistical data for their purpose, which leaves out the actual/accurate data about the subaltern, ethnic, and minority groups. Voices of the poor students, girls, ethnic and minority group of the School can be addressed by making the policy in education and transforming the school structure with inclusive pedagogy into equity and equality social environment for the stude...

Developing a culture of marginality: Nepal's current classificatory moment

Focaal–Journal of Global and Historical Anthropology, 2013

This article examines the complex relationships between marginalized communities, the state, and nonstate actors such as development agencies and social scientists in crafting the classificatory regimes that undergird affirmative action policies. Focusing on the current dynamics of “ethnic restructuring“ amid the broader political process of postconflict “state restructuring“ in Nepal, I suggest that international actors often unwittingly encourage the hardening of ethnic boundaries through development projects that target “marginalized“ populations defined in cultural terms. However, such interventions can also yield unexpected transformations in agentive ethnic consciousness. This ethnographic exploration of current classificatory processes in non-postcolonial Nepal provides an important counterpoint to material from the Indian context, where histories of colonial classification have debatably influenced contemporary categories-and their critique-to a significant extent.