ABSTRACT
With its systematic coverage of different groups, this book demonstrates how similar trends of ethnic formation are affecting all parts of Nepal. Yet, within the boundaries of a single culturally diverse state, very different forms of ethnicity have emerged.
" This is a truly thematic collection with a well-defined focus on the important contemporary topics of ethnic identity and nationalism. The importance of the theme is self-evident in a world attempting to come to grips with such problems in virtually all modern states. Anyone with an interest in contemporary Nepal should study this volume."
Nepal is the only officially Hindu kingdom in the world and remains so in spite of a revolution, or people's movement, in 1990 which overthrew the partyless Panchayat regime and instituted a multiparty constitutional monarchy. Since November 1994, it has also had an elected Communist government, the first of its kind in South Asia.
This volume takes a long-term view of the various processes of ethnic and national development that have been displayed, both before and after 1990. It brings together twelve carefully chosen ethnographic and historical chapters covering all of the major ethnic groups and regions of Nepal.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part One|112 pages
Dominant and Diaspora Identities
part Two|91 pages
Central Nepal
part Three|62 pages
The tarai
chapter Chapter Eight|24 pages
Losing ground, gaining ground: land and change in a tharu community in dang, west nepal
part Four|75 pages
East nepal
part Five|39 pages
The northern fringe
chapter Chapter Twelve|35 pages
Tibetan pride of place: or, why nepal's bhotiyas are not an ethnic group
part Six|118 pages
Conclusions