Himalayan Journal of Sociology and Anthropology

Issues of Reservation and Affirmative Action for Minorities in Nepal: An Anthropological Review

2017-04-13T12:54:02+00:00

There are mainly six types of minorities in Nepal. It is categorized not only numerically but also on the basis of access in ruling process of the state. The caste, gender, region, religion, inhabitation and language, which have no access in the governing process is also categorized under minorities. Dalit is a caste which are being discriminated as an untouchable group since the beginning of Muluki Ain of Nepal. Women are marginalized politically, socially and financially and treated as the weak individuals. Western and far western regions of the country are very much backward in terms of infrastructure development, human resource, education and in all sectors in comparison to other regions of the country. All religions are discriminated by the state excluding Hindu religion. Madhesi is another part of discrimination by inhabitation of the country. We can take some affirmative action towards enhancement of minorities. Provision of proportional representation, reservation, different acts and statutes, secular state including the interim constitution, made by state is also an example of affirmative action towards promotion of minorities.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 1-12

Social Accountability for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health

2017-04-13T12:54:42+00:00

Adolescent population of Nepal is facing health and social problems related to sexual, reproductive, behavioral and traditional social practices. Adolescent pregnancy, child marriage, unwanted pregnancies, Chhaupadhi (restrictions during menstruation and delivery), sexual- gender based violence, unsafe abortion, HIV/AIDS, drug addiction and suicide are major problems which have severe consequences in the lives of adolescents in Nepal. Addressing such daunting problems that adolescents are facing today needs holistic approach, going beyond health. Wider community support, civic engagement and social mobilizations are required to tackle the ASRH problems. Community Based Institutions (CBIs), Community Leaders and citizens have obligations to respond to the problems related with service delivery and ending harmful practice as a social accountability for protection, fulfill and upholding the rights of adolescents. In this context, the objective of this study is assess awareness and engagement capacity of citizens for addressing adolescent sexual and reproductive health problems as a social accountability in Baitadi District of Nepal. Descriptive and analytical research design were used to assess the level of awareness and empowerment from the citizen’ perspectives. A total of 337 respondents affiliated with the five different types of community based institutions (CBIs) were interviewed using structured questionnaire for data collection and data analysis was done by using SPSS version 16.0. The preliminary results of the study reveals that majority of citizens were aware and informed about SRH problems of adolescents, citizens perceived that child-marriage (15%) is the main issue of adolescents in the community followed by Gender Based Violence (13.4%) and adolescent pregnancy (12.7%) among others. The study reveals that citizens belonging to rural areas have more citizen, actions on preventing child marriage; awareness level was higher among citizens from Non-Dalit communities than in Dalit communities. Further, 59.9 percent citizens feel confident to talk about sexual-reproductive health services related concerns in the meeting whereas 32.6 percent citizens perceived that they are hesitant to speak on SRH issues. Similarly, nearly half of the citizens perceived that they were not capable of deciding freely to talk about SRH related issues in the meeting. Only 61.1 percent citizens feel confident to claim for access to quality health service as their fundamental rights from public health facilities. The study concluded that majority of citizens affiliated with Community Based Institutions were aware about characteristics and Sexual and Reproductive Health issues of adolescent population at their communities. However, still a sizeable citizen felt less confident to use their individual agency to decide freely, speaking up against existing traditional norms and shown less confident in claiming Sexual and Reproductive health service as rights. The study revealed that citizen’s accountability capacity is inadequate for tackling adolescent sexual and reproductive health service provision and social behavior change at the community level and therefore this calls for the dire needs to build the capacity of vanguard citizens to contribute to improving adolescents sexual and reproductive health status.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), page: 13-39

Impaired Governance: Limiting Communities' Access to Service Delivery System in Nepal

2017-04-12T17:33:42+00:00

This paper examines governance impairing at the grassroots level that has limited the communities’ access to basic services in Nepal. Primary data were collected from 110 locally constituted community-based organisations that employed110 organisational surveys and three focus group discussions. Result indicates that the overall practice of governance at the community level remained weak to moderate due to a number of reasons. Firstly, many communities were influenced by power based socio-economic structure. Secondly, some communities were impressed by power politics and interests. Thirdly, many communities were facing biggest crisis of low capacity and resource constraints. Such crisis has been a foremost obstacle in the working culture of communities so they were unable to embrace governance mechanism in their development undertakings.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), page: 40-74

How Useful Photography is in Sociological Researches on Ethnic Identity Studies?

2017-04-12T17:33:42+00:00

The origins of photography and sociology date back almost at the same time, but the relationship between them was not as intimate as it was to be. Sociologists refrained from using photography as a method in their researches until the importance of qualitative research was realized. Debate is still going on whether photographs expose total social reality or just provide the possibilities of subjective interpretations in the form of partial truths. Anthropologists, to some extent, are ahead in using photographs in their ethnographic works from early years. The essay deals photography only as a means of sociologists’ engagement with issues of identity formation with reference to ethnicity. The narrative potentiality of photography, which is crucial to uncover the meanings embedded in peoples’ struggles for identity, becomes its strength to claim as a research tool in qualitative research in sociology. Furthermore, enriched with meanings photographs bring subjectivists and constructivists closer to the discipline of photography. The importance of photography in constructing meanings through grounded theory method research on ethnic identity concerns of various cultural groups, largely in south Asia, cannot be underscored since the photographic practice has already made its claim for the place in qualitative sociology and anthropology.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 75-95

Shifting Identity of Tamu Lhosar From Cultural To Political

2017-04-12T17:33:43+00:00

Tamu Lhosar is Gurungs' New Year which is celebrated every year in the 15th of Poush (approximately December 30) is the biggest festival for Gurungs (Tamu). Tamu Lhosar has become a national festival and enjoys public holiday. This paper aims at exploring out the changing practice of Tamu Lhosar celebrated in Kathmandu Valley through ethnographic approach. Interview, interaction, participant’s observation were done to gather information. Besides, relevant literature was reviewed and, speech given in the program, press release and media news were also analyzed. I tried to apply both in emic and etic perspective in this research. The research found that Tamu Lhosar was stated to celebrate in Kathmandu in 2036 BS (1979 A.D) and then every year. It has been celebrating not only for preserving their culture, cultural identity, and uniting all Tamus residing in Kathmandu valley but also for raising awareness, demonstrating strength and advocating for their rights and issues. Along with changing socio-cultural and political context of the country, the practice of Tamu Lhosar is changing. The move is looking towards social and political transformation. In the starting years, it was celebrated with aim to preserve and promote culture, language and cultural identity of the Gurung community. But nowadays, its purpose has become wider and multipurpose. Tamu Lhosar is more focused in cities and urban areas. The inter organizations (Tamu samaj) of Gurung community actively participate in the festivals demonstrating their folk songs, dance, dresses and ritual activities. Now, Gurungs use this festival also as a platform to expose their cultural identity and political power as well. The big mass of the community that gather every year in the open central space of Kathmandu city has drawn the attraction of the people nationwide, activist and major political parties and leaders. The young generation are also boosting up the importance of Tamu Lhosar in the urban context. The celebration of Tamu Lhosar no more carry the message of their cultural preservation but its practice has shifted beyond it and demands for the institutionalization of their rights through their own federal state in the country. The ethnic identity of Gurungs thus now is marching for political identity.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 96-110

Climate Change as Ecological Colonialism: Dilemma of Innocent Victims

2017-04-13T12:58:36+00:00

Climate Change is at just the once a social, cultural and an ecological issue. It is an environmental justice issue, an issue of economic and political domination, a consequence of clash between deregulated capitalism and the welfare of mankind deeply entrenched in a capitalist economic system based upon the persistent exploitation of natural resource for individual benefits. Poverty stricken peoples of least developed countries are the innocent victims of climate change. This article argues and identifies key ways that anthropological knowledge/lens can enrich and deepen contemporary understandings of climate change. From discussions allied to natural resource management practices it is construed that natural resource management practices are impacted from factors –political, economic (capitalism), domination, cultural, community and societal activities which are anthropogenic factors responsible for climate change calling for the equity and justice implications of climate change issues. As climate change is ecological colonialism at its fullest development-its critical scale-with sweeping social, cultural, economic and political implications, anthropological lens seek to respond to climate change at the local, regional, national, and global scales and are helpful in reflecting the understandings in application and seeking ways to pool resource with communities to assist them in addressing their climate change concerns. There are some other key contributions that anthropology can bring to understandings of climate change viz. awareness of cultural values and political relations that shape the production and interpretation of climate change knowledge, survival, power, ethics, morals, environmental costs and justice, militarism, war, intertwined crises of food, water, biodiversity loss and livelihood.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 111-140

Democratization and Development in Nepal

2017-04-12T17:33:43+00:00

Democratization and development are intrinsically related to each other. There is very little literature on the relationship between democratization and development, especially after major political movements in Nepal. Therefore, this paper focuses on impacts of democratization on development activities. This is based on descriptive analysis of the Nepalese censuses after 1950s, periodical demographic surveys and a review of official documents. Democratization in Nepal has resulted in changes in Nepalese society, especially in the areas of education, health, transportation, practices in elimination of caste differentials, and migration and remittance inflow into the country. This paper is expected to have importance for policy implications from holistic perspectives.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 141-154

Nepalese Society in Response to TEVT Programs

2017-04-12T17:33:43+00:00

Technical education and vocational training programs in Nepalese society have been a aloud offbeat that is combating to slice through the prevalent socio-economic and contemporary social setup so that it could contribute at the very best. Despite more than a half a century’s effort to establish it as a strong element that supports the country’s economy and peoples’ living standard, it has still been straining somewhere near the beginning point. This study investigates some impeding socio-cultural factors that fade the overall development of TEVT programs. The result should help the policy makers to be more assured about the major issues that hurdle the TEVT setup in Nepalese society. Analyzing several research works and national and international reports on concerned topics it is found that the TEVT values have not been placed as one of the top national priorities due to the existing social setup and people’s perspective towards TEVT programs. Therefore the heterogeneous aspects are required to be synchronized even more tactically along with TEVT’s integration in the labor market in order to choreograph, qualitatively improved TEVT programs so that TEVT could be significantly potential element among those on which the country’s socio-economic development could depend on more reliably.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), page: 155-174

Presumed Cause(s) of Tuberculosis in Rural Nepal

2017-04-13T12:57:37+00:00

In focus is the emic perspective on cause/s of tuberculosis. The ethnographic data is from two major studies in one and the same community in the Hill district of Pyuthan, in the Mid-Western Development Region. The findings show a pooling of old and new influences with a dazzling plurality of thoughts and ideas within a framework of great uncertainty. Moreover, changes in perceptions over the last decade and an half are quite marginal. For health workers to function efficiently the perceived causes of patients and their communities need to be understood and taken into account.

Himalayan Journal of Sociology & Anthropology - Vol. VII (2016), Page: 175-197