Jaganath Adhikari , C. Bhadra, K. Gurung, Gurung, Ganesh Gurung, Ganesh, B. Niroula, Seddon, David Seddon, David, 2006
The process whereby Nepali women migrate to foreign countries for work and the consequences of their migration, in terms of its impact on Nepali economy and society, are both poorly understood even though women's migration abroad is not a recent phenomenon. Indeed, women have been migrating on a seasonal, temporary, and permanent basis for more than two centuries.
The research on which this report is based was conducted with a view to enhancing our understanding of the different aspects of women's foreign labour migration. The 'problems' associated with women's migration have been much emphasised by the media, but it is impossible to understand the phenomenon and to develop effective and appropriate measures and mechanisms to support women migrants if we do not have a comprehensive and reliable picture of women's migration as a whole and of its implications for Nepalese economy and society. The research reported here will help build such a picture.
Constitutional arrangements for peripheral areas in India reflect the national government’s instrumentalist attempts at decentralising bureaucratic and administrative control in far-flung (essentially hill) areas. Karbi Anglong is one of the two hill districts in Assam where there are special constitutional provisions for indigenous ethnic groups to elect and run their own councils. The constitutional provisions allow for nominal control over forest and land by allocating certain areas of the territory to the Autonomous Council, which then re-allocates these areas to its political constituencies. This article explores the reasons why, despite the constitutional efforts at decentralisation of powers to Autonomous Councils, violence between different ethnic groups and the state continues to define the civic and political discourse in
Anglong district.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 191-215.
This article attempts to find a way to grant poor people's rights to the land they cultivate. It takes a look at the question of land reform in Nepal and develops suggestions for future actions ensuring sustainable peace and livelihood security. In order to do this, the historical process of land controlling, the present situation as well as the role of different institutions and organizations in securing land rights are analyzed before suggestions for future actions are made.
This book provides the first systematic analysis of peace-building in Central Asia for inter-ethnic conflicts over water and land in the Ferghana Valley based on concrete, in-depth and on-site investigation. The core analysis centres on peacebuilding projects in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan by three international aid agencies – an international NGO, a bilateral governmental donor and a multilateral agency – and the shared approach which the donors developed and used for conflict transformation. Using ethnographic case material, the author critically examines both the theoretical assumptions guiding this approach and its empirical outcomes when put into practice. Building on existing work in conflict transformation and the ethnography of international assistance in Central Asia, the book sheds light on Western attempts to transform the post-socialist societies of Central Asia and provides fresh empirical data on and insights into irrigation practices, social institutions, and state and identity formation in the Ferghana Valley.
The book was published by Routledge in its Central Asian Studies series.
Recognition of the limitations of the traditional ‘fortress approach’ to governance of protected areas has led to a new model that seeks to reconcile environmental conservation with human development and promote participation by local populations. Based on a comparative analysis of four case studies in Bolivia and Peru, the present article shows the processes, problems and potentialities that emerge from the inclusion of indigenous peoples in the governance of protected areas. It demonstrates that there are many political, economic, social and cultural obstacles to reconciling conservation with development. [...]
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U.; with an international group of co-editors (eds). Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. University of Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp. 501-515
In: Chenal J, Pedrazzini Y, Cissé G, Kaufmann V, éditeurs. Quelques rues d’Afrique. Observation et gestion de l’espace public à Abidjan, Dakar et Nouakchott. Lausanne : Les éditions du Lasur, pp 33-48.
This book presents a critical analysis of the potentials and constraints of past and present models of developing agrarian innovations.
These innovations had low to non-existent impacts on the sovereignty and security of food production. They focused on linking indigenous food production to a market economy that was not able to guarantee reasonable prices to farmers, preventing them from covering production costs and basic needs for their livelihoods.
The attempt to overcome this one-sided policy in order to develop agrarian innovations in the context of a dialogue among scientific, indigenous and popular forms of knowledge was presented as an institutional experience developed by AGRUCO. This experience was developed during the last 15 years with active support from the Centre for Development and Environment, NCCR North-South and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Read an extensive account of the book launch by Stephan Rist
"This is an important contribution to the literature on protected areas and the political ecology of natural resource management and conservation. It provides a very timely analysis of "participatory" PA governance and management, examining "new paradigm" PA approaches which - in policy and rhetoric if not always in practice - offer alternatives to the fortress conservation approaches that have so often proved environmentally ineffective, socially disastrous and morally questionable. The editors and 31 contributors "tried to determine how the participatory approach to conservation evolved in specific settings and who profits from the new approach." Drawing on research by 13 research groups working in diverse regions of the global South (South America, sub-Saharan Africa, and South and Southeast Asia) and in Switzerland, the book offers a set of coordinated case studies that are attentive to historical, geographical, political, social, and economic contexts and dynamics." Stan Stevens, Univ. of Massachusetts
Frontier Encounters: Indigenous communities and settlers in Asia and Latin America
Danilo Geiger, Marina T. Campos, Christian Erni, Søren Hvalkov, Sabino Padilla, Jr., Devasish Roy, Ranabir Samaddar, 2008
Poverty and the maldistribution of land in core areas of developing countries, together with state schemes for the colonization of unruly peripheries, have forced indigenous peoples and settlers into an uneasy co-existence. On the basis of case study material from various Asian and Latin American countries, Frontier Encounters identifies characteristic patterns of interaction between these groups, explores the dynamics of some of the open conflicts that dot the map of the two continents, and situates them in the context of the politics and economics of the “frontier”.
Daniel Geiger is a doctoral candidate in Social Anthropology at the University of Luzern, Switzerland. He has lectured on political anthropology and indigenous movements. His research experience includes fieldwork in the Philippines and Indonesia. Under the auspices of the NCCR North-South, he has coordinated a comparative research project on conflicts between indigenous communities and settlers in South and Southeast Asia.
"Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity brings together insights from eight case studies in Latin America and South Asia that provide nuanced descriptions and analyses of the experiences of decentralised natural resource management. The studies are compared in a non-reductionist way through an interpretative framework drawing upon various contemporary state–society theories and human–environment perspectives.
The book goes beyond an identification of universal mechanisms of effective decentralisation. It provides a useful examination of how political contestations within and between heterogeneous communities and a non-monolithic state produce complex and often unintended outcomes for the management of natural resources as well as for the realisation of political participation as a fundamental human right. Decentralisation meets Complexity is an invaluable resource for both practitioners and researchers in the field of decentralisation and community-based natural resource management."
This article summarises and discusses eight case studies from Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Pakistan, India and Nepal that focus on the everyday realities of decentralisation. It recalls the mainstream arguments favouring decentralisation as a basic human right (i.e. to be able to participate in decision-making) and in a more utilitarian sense (i.e. decentralisation for development). The eight case studies support aspects of the mainstream; however, they also present new insights. To position these insights, the article deconstructs mainstream decentralisation discourses as based on a functionalist ontology, often leading to rather managerial and mechanistic approaches. To contrast such a functionalist position, three critical social science perspectives are introduced: the neo-Marxist view of the hegemonic state (including the notion of subalterns), Scott’s simplifying state techniques, and Midgal’s state-in-society approach.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 15-55.
The livelihood strategies of internally displaced people are affected by the various factors and the new contexts that they encounter in the host communities. This topic has also been of great interest in the broader framework of migration studies. Taking the case of the Rajhena Camp in the Western Terai, Nepal, this Chapter examines
the livelihood strategies of conflict-induced internally displaced persons using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (DFID 2002) and the Rural Livelihood System (Baumgartner 2006) as analytical tools. This Chapter attempts to understand how the circumstances endured by internally displaced persons affect their capacity
to build assets or capitalise on available assets and, thus, shape their livelihood strategies. This chapter also discusses the relevance of livelihoods frameworks in studying the livelihood strategies of special categories of people.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 217-256.
Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Susette Biber-Klemm, Walter Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Dominique Joye, Christian Pohl, Urs Wiesmann, Elisabeth Zemp, 2008
Springer
Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research: The emergence of Transdisciplinarity as a Form of Research
Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Susette Biber-Klemm, Walter Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Dominique Joye, Christian Pohl, Urs Wiesmann, Elisabeth Zemp, 2007
By transgressing disciplinary paradigms and surpassing the practical problems of single actors, transdisciplinary research is challenged by the following requirements: to grasp the complexity of the problems, to take into account the diversity of scientific and societal views of the problems, to link abstract and case specific knowledge, and to constitute knowledge with a focus on problem-solving for what is perceived to be the common good. Transdisciplinary research relates to three types of knowledge: systems knowledge, target knowledge and transformation knowledge, and reflects their mutual dependencies in the research process. Research that addresses problems in the life-world comprises the phase of problem identification and problem structuring, the phase of problem investigation and the phase of bringing results to fruition.
Humankind today is challenged by numerous threats brought about by the speed and scope of global change dynamics. A concerted and informed approach to solutions is needed to face the severity and magnitude of current development problems. Generating shared knowledge is a key to addressing global challenges. This requires developing the ability to cross multiple borders wherever radically different understandings of issues such as health and environmental sanitation, governance and conflict, livelihood options and globalisation, and natural resources and development exist.
Global Change and Sustainable Development presents 36 peer-reviewed articles written by interdisciplinary teams of authors who reflected on results of development-oriented research conducted from 2001 to 2008. Scientific activities were – and continue to be – carried out in partnerships involving people and institutions in the global North, South and East, guided by principles of sustainability. The articles seek to inform solutions for mitigating, or adapting to, the negative impacts of global dynamics in the social, political, ecological, institutional and economic spheres.
For the print version, please send your order to: (price: CHF 45.00 / EUR 30.00, excluding postage)
The Ethiopian Highlands cover over 50% of the country and are home to more than 90% of Ethiopia's population of over 80 million people (estimate for 2010); 60% of the livestock and 90% of the area suited for agriculture are also located here. Although more than 90% of the Highlands was once forested, today a mere 20% of this area is covered by trees, and the percentage
of forest cover is less than 4%. This is evidence of a high incidence of degradation of vegetation in the past, which has continued to the present. Land-use and land-cover changes have been particularly dynamic in the 20th century, during which climate change also began to have effects; wildlife in natural habitats have been restricted to those few areas that were preserved naturally due to rugged topography or natural aridity. Soil erosion has been severe throughout the Highlands, but mainly on agricultural land; the current
severity and extent of soil degradation seriously threaten food security. [...]
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 187-207.
Land-use change is one of the main drivers of many environmental change processes. It influences the basic resources of land use, including the soil. Its impact on soil often occurs so creepingly that land managers hardly contemplate initiating ameliorative or counterbalance measures. Poor land management has degraded vast amounts of land, reduced our ability to produce enough food, and is a major threat to rural livelihoods in many developing countries.
To date, there has been no single unifying volume that addresses the multifaceted impacts of land use on soils. This book has responded to this challenge by bringing together renowned academics and policy experts to analyze the patterns, driving factors and proximate causes, and the socioeconomic impacts of soil degradation. Policy measures to prevent irreversible degradation and rehabilitate degraded soils are also identified.
In: Braimoh AK, Vlek PLG, editors. Land Use and Soil Resources. Dordrecht, The Netherlands; London, UK: Springer, pp 41–71.
Bern, Geographica Bernensia on behalf of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS)
Management Plan for the Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn World Heritage Site
Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn World Heritage Association, 2005
Naters and Interlaken (Switzerland), Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn World Heritage Association
This Management Plan outlines measures to ensure the long-term preservation of the unique Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn (JAB) World Heritage Site and discusses ways in which its value can be leveraged by the surrounding region. The Management Plan addresses all groups within the administration, the general population, the business sector and civil society who are involved and
interested in the protection and use of the World Heritage Site and its surrounding region. It represents a binding obligation on the part of the JAB World Heritage Site Association to initiate and coordinate the implementation process.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 331-341.
This thesis focuses on domestic processes of water policy making in Egypt and Ethiopia in the context of transboundary conflict and cooperation in the Nile Basin.
It presents results at two different levels. First, the water sectors of Egypt and Ethiopia are analyzed with regard to their capacity to jointly design and implement effective and sustainable strategy for transboundary river development. Second, the study produces general insights regarding the nature of transboundary river conflicts and the challenges of conflict mitigation.
This paper summarises research activities related to water and water management carried out mainly in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan between 2002 and 2008, and anchors them in a broader regional water management context. Results show that climate change and socio-political transformation processes have heavy impacts on the condition of natural resources as well as on people's livelihoods. While rapid glacier retreat is providing more water for agriculture, river flow modelling suggests a forward shift of the main water discharge from the end of July to June. This may lead to more acute water shortages in the lowlands towards the end of the summer period. Dilapidated irrigation infrastructure, institutional failures, and inappropriate use of water by inexperienced farmers are the main reasons why less than 30% of the water reaches its final destination. [...]
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 223-239.
In: Hurni H, Wiesmann U, editors; with an international group of co-editors. Global Change Change and Sustainable Development: A Synthesis of Regional Experiences from Research Partnerships. Perspectives of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research (NCCR) North-South, University of Bern, Vol. 5. Bern, Switzerland: Geographica Bernensia, pp 343–356.
Information on migration is very rare at present. People involved in research, planning as well as policy and advocacy demand it much. In view of consolidating information on migration, we first published Migration Year Book in 2006. It received very positive response. That encouraged us to publish similar Year Books in the following years continuously including additional information on students’ migration and other pertinent issues. This Migration Year Book 2009 is an outcome of it. This issue tries to include information on the undocumented labour migration leading to casualties and fraudulent cases. It also highlights the internal migration, migration between India and Nepal, and the Internally Displaced People within the country. We hope that this issue helps researchers, policy-makers, members of different political parties, students and general public.
Access to Land Resource: Dalits and their Livelihood Insecurity.
Purna Bahadur Nepali, 2008
Historical distribution of land in Nepal does not reflect a spirit of social justice. Only a few people owned or had control over land in the name of Birta, Jagir and other land entitlements.
In an agrarian society like Nepal, there is no off-farm opportunity to make better income. Also, there is no social security policy for the Dalits so that they constantly face hunger and food insecurity. Dalits' livelihood is miserable and vulnerable. Various kinds of informal institutions such as the Balighare, Khalo and Khan Pratha existed in the traditional agrarian system of Nepal. These were discriminatory and exploitive in form. This unjust situation is further compounded by the Hindu caste system of untouchability. Hence, Dalits today are marginalized people on each sphere of life, and their human rights are being continuously violated.
Therefore, the state has to take some bold steps in enunciating a future scientific land reform program in order to bring about equitable changes.
Although migration has played an important role in keeping the Nepalese economy from falling due to conflict, there is very little information about migration and its status, problems and challenges.
NIDS has been trying to update those concerened about migration with this Migration Year Book 2007. This present volume aims to provide information on migration and related information including data analysis, current trends and issues relating to migrant workers. It reviews existing policy, regulations, plans and programmes which affect the migrant workers and the effort of government and private sector agencies to promote the prospects of overseas employment.
Proposed by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences
This book is proposed by the transdisciplinarity-net, which is a project supported by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences. It offers a means of designing transdisciplinary research. The tools presented here help structure the research process, in particular with a view to: adequately reducing the complexity of a problem field, taking into account the multiplicity of perspectives, embedding research into the social context, and adapting concepts and methods in the course of the research process. This publication shows how these tools can be used in the three phases of a transdisciplinary research process: identifying and structuring the problem, analyzing the problem and bringing results to fruition.
This book on "Nepal: Transition to Transformation" is the outcome of a national conference jointly organized by the Kathmandu University (KU) and the Swiss National Centre for Competence in Research (NCCR North-South) and held in Kathmandu on June 22, 2007. All the papers included here were originally presented in that conference.
In sum, the papers in this volume provide valuable insights in the state-of-art of the comtemporary Nepal and the roadmap that lies ahead for it. In particular, issues relatd to the post-conflict situation and ways to transform Nepal are well described. I strongly believe that the discourse contained in these papers as well as analysis of issues in relation to transition and transformation could be of interest to the policy makers, planners, politicians, researchers and scholars in Nepal and outside alike.
This book presents accounts of how Nepal is moving from a feudal, centralized, exclusionary monarchical state to an inclusive, federal republican nation. The book contains the role of the ten years of the armed conflict and the popular people's movement of April 2006 to bring enormous political and social changes in Nepal. The book also examines the role of foreign aid, situation of internally displaced people, relationship between land and conflict, and issues of pluralism, diversity and integration. Finally this book gives succinct ways forward for establishing political change and socio-economic transformation.
Nepal is still emerging as a nation state. Consequently, a great deal of social conflict accompanies such nation building. Empirical evidences show that differences exist between different caste and ethnic groups and also between geographical regions. Cultural discrimination on the basis of caste, ethnicity, religion, language, and regionalism is equally an inherent phenomenon of statehood and creation of minorities in Nepal.
The key to attaining national integration is respecting and recognizing pluralism and diversity and empowering various groups of people on equal footings. Nepal is a country where none of the ethnic/caste groups is the majority. Social transformation calls for a thorough reform in legislation. The time has come to acknowledge that is is necessary to work out, with involvement of all social actors, a new body of laws consonant with that long-standing cultural and ethnic diversity which represents the deep roots of real Nepal.
A unique atlas presenting threats, vulnerabilities and risks in Bolivia has just been published (in Spanish). The atlas is considered a highly relevant instrument for improving the management and mitigation of the ever-present natural risks in Bolivia.
According to Hernan Tuco, Vice-Minister of Civil Defence of the Bolivian Government, the atlas will serve as a “reference to the national, departmental and municipal authorities for taking decisions regarding containment and prevention of major disasters”.
Within the framework of the NCCR North-South, the atlas is a direct result of the Transversal Package Project (TPP) on ‘Social Vulnerability and Resilience’ and a related PAMS (Partnership Actions) project. The atlas was developed as a joint-venture between the Vice-ministry of Civil Defence and researchers of the NCCR North-South, OXFAM and the Foundation for Participatory Communitarian Development (Fundepco). The team of authors were lead by Luis Salamanca of the NCCR North-South.
The many benefits of compost to agriculture, the environment and society are
often poorly understood and little appreciated. As a result, compost producers
around the world face great difficulties selling their high-quality products.
This book is designed to help compost producers in low and middle-income
countries run viable initiatives by unlocking the financial value of their product. It includes practical advice, templates and inspiring examples of how
marketing techniques have been used in composting initiatives around the world.
Dübendorf, Zurich: Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag).
This book attempts to unterline the livelihoods perspective of participatory or joint forest management initiatives in NWFP. The main aim is to understand the linkages between rural livelihoods, the role forests play in the livelihoods and the impact of (changing) forest governance on these livelihoods.
The analysis revealed that in the NWFP model of joint forest management, the provincial Forest Department maintains the priorities of forest conservation, while local people's top priorities are to secure the financial means they require for living and related basic needs. The book shows that this divergence of expectations was not taken into consideration during the reform process. Mistrust and lack of effective communication between main stakeholders are identified as another factor hindering the effectiveness of the participatory approach. Likewise the interventions had not taken care to include the poor and marginalised sections of the community.
To order this publication, please contact Regina Kohler at the Division of Human Geography, Department of Geography, University of Zurich.
Donor-driven participatory forest management and 'Local Social Realities': Insights from Pakistan.
This paper analyses a participatory forest management initiative in the milieu of local social realities (such as customary forest use, power relations and livelihood concerns) and the actors who are part of these realities. The paper shows that the donor-driven decentralisation of forest management did not consider traditional practices of forest use, nor did it attempt to engage customary institutions and local civil society in the process. Though new institutions (joint forest management and Village Development Committees) have been established for implementation of participatory forest management and land use plans at the village level, the paper shows that responsibility delegated by the state to these institutions concerns protection of the forests rather than management. A mismatch between local livelihood concerns and the institutional change process is also revealed.
In: Geiser U, Rist S, editors. Decentralisation Meets Local Complexity: Local Struggles, State Decentralisation and Access to Natural Resources in South Asia and Latin America. Bern: Geographica Bernensia, pp 249-273.
In short, the general perception among the Nepalese is that foreign aid made life more pleasant and rewarding for a limited few and that it has done little to promote the production of wealth, or to breed political responsibility, or to encourage people to help themselves. By doing so it has allowed successive governments to avoid correcting their mistakes.
In order to transform this nation into a 'New Nepal', all the stakeholders need to reform themselves, starting from the political parties to the donor community. The stubborn and un-reforming attitude of the political parties is being assisted by the 'business as usual' attitude of the other stakeholders. AID cannot be blamed for all the mistakes made in the projects it bankrolls. However, by providing a seemingly endless credit line to governments regardless of their policies, AID effectively discourages governments from learning from and correcting their mistakes.
Why is rural Kyrgyzstan experiencing widespread poverty and a considerable divide between the wealthy and the poor – despite twenty years of independence and sustained efforts to reform the rural economy? Drawing on an innovative livelihoods perspective with a focus on institutions, the author illustrates how the Kyrgyz agrarian reforms of the 1990s have fundamentally altered rural property relations. Not only have the reforms redefined the economic value and social significance of land and other resources, they have redefined the livelihood prospects of the rural population. Existing disparities between the asset-rich and the asset-poor have been reinforced, and their social relations have increasingly become embedded in a poorly regulated economic system.
The book provides a vivid example of the long-term effects of an agrarian “shock therapy” and shows how the introduction of seemingly “robust” institutions runs the risk of widening the existing gap between the rich and the poor.
Since the beginning of the 1990s, the Indian natural rubber sector has been affected by trends towards trade liberalisation, a reduced role of the State, and organisational reforms. Rubber cultivators in Kerala - around 1 million holders cultivating an average 0.5 ha of rubber plantation - have been affected by these processes in different ways. It is hypothesised that growers - especially the ones located in agro-ecologically marginal rubber areas - are coping with these changes with diversified income-generating strategies. The book shows that the different types of holdings have specific management strategies and ways of dealing with risks. Furthermore, there is evidence that specific local institutions and organisations can hinder and/or support the income generation of the different types of holdings.
For poverty reduction interventions to be effective, it is important to understand the multiple livelihood assets, livelihood activities and multiple sources of vulnerability faced by the poor. In addition to recognizing these activities, using livelihood approaches requires an attempt to understand the processes that underlie poverty, and the social, cultural, political, and institutional contexts in which poor people live. Although the individual, household, and community are the primary levels of analysis, livelihood approaches seek out the relevant interactions at micro, meso, and macro levels. In this backdrop, the main objective of this “Livelihood Assets Atlas” is to provide a comparative depiction of the indicators of livelihood assets which are assumed as poverty reducing factors.
This chapter looks at the different sources of the decade-long armed conflict in Nepal and their interrelationship with livelihood insecurity. The complexity and interwovenness of the different causes is highlighted and their collective impact on the livelihoods of the poor and marginalised people examined.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 9-47.
The livelihoods of people in conflict-ridden countries like Nepal are threatened by various conventional and non-conventional factors. The decade long conflict and the ongoing peace process have altered the livelihood options in Nepal, creating new options while constraining others. This Chapter highlights the need for a proper understanding of livelihoods in Nepal in the current transitional context to develop a response strategy to address livelihood insecurity and to capitalize on the opportunities brought about by the political changes in the country. It also suggests some areas for further research and analysis.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: South Asia Coordination Office, pp 257-271.
This book looks at livelihood insecurity and social tension in Nepalese society. Conceptual links between livelihood insecurity, social tension and conflict in Nepal have seldom been made. Therefore, we examine this relationship from different perspectives. Nepalese experts, campaigners, academic and non-academic scholars engaged in the fields of public policy analysis, food rights and globalisation, livelihoods, conflict transformation and social change were invited to contribute their views and analysis. Their contributions provide the reader with a wide range of perspectives on livelihood insecurity and social conflict. Another aim of the book is to test the explanatory power of the livelihood approaches and to enrich the livelihood perspective by constructive and evidence-based criticism.
In: Upreti BR, Müller-Böker U, editors. Livelihood Insecurity and Social Conflict in Nepal. Kathmandu: RCO South Asia, NCCR North-South, pp 1-7.
In Nepal, the ten years of armed conflict between the state and the C P N (Maoists) has uprooted thousands of people from their homes and communities. They are facing tremendous difficulties.
The objective of this article is to analyze the status, trend and dilemmas faced by the IDPs, and to initiate a debate on the urgency of addressing the IDP issues.
Land has always been one of the major causes of armed conflict and structural violence in Nepal. Land is also a source of feudal socio-economic structure in the country. Hence, examining land issues from these perspectives is crucially important to initiate fresh debates on the potential contribution of land reform in the transformation process and addressing the problems of landlessness in the changing political context.
This is an effort of researchers and practitioners to examine various aspects of land related issues in Nepal. This work particularly focuses on conflict and exclusion of marginalized people in access to and control of land resources and associated power dynamics in Nepal.
Nepal - From War to Peace: Legacies of the Past and Hopes for the Future.
This book critically examines the decade long armed conflict and its impacts on various sectors, explores opportunities and challenges for Nepal's peace process and future development. It will be a valuable reference book for readers who are interested in:
Nepal's power, politics and political change;
land conflict and its relation with politics;
environmental stresses created by the armed conflict;
dynamics of internal displacement;
hydroconflict and its political implications on Nepal and beyond;
public legitimacy issue in making post conflict constitution;
relationship between the armed conflict and tourism and potentials of tourism sector in promoting peace;
reorienting of development in the post-conflict situation;
various impacts of the armed conflict;
role of women in Nepal’s peace process;
debate on the security sector restructuring after the armed conflict and challenges and opportunities for Nepal to achieve inclusive democracy, durable peace and economic prosperity.
The April movement of 2006 has fundamentally questioned the feudalistic, centralized and exclusionary political system presided over by the monarchy in Nepal. It has also paved the way for a broader socio-political transformation and the ushering of a federal republic structure of the state.
Based on the experiences of the 19-day-long people's peaceful resistance movement, it is argued that the conventional concept of civil society needs to be redefined based on the potential of civil movement in changing the political system and shaping the future of the nation-state. The author concludes that non-violent resistance movement has a great prospect of settling conflict and building peace.
State building is a highly debated topic these days, whether referring to war-torn Iraq, conflict-ridden Afghanistan, or any number of other countries facing or recovering from acute instability. Questions of physical reconstruction and socio-economic transformation are especially crucial. The issue of state building has recently gained in importance in South Asia, particularly in the aftermath of conflicts in Sri Lanka and Nepal. The Remake of a State presents expert analysis, conceptual frameworks, and case studies relevant to sustainable state building in Nepal.
Handbook of Transdisciplinary Research: Enhancing Transdisciplinary Research: A Synthesis in Fifteen Propositions
Urs Wiesmann, Susette Biber-Klemm, Walter Grossenbacher-Mansuy, Gertrude Hirsch Hadorn, Holger Hoffmann-Riem, Dominique Joye, Christian Pohl, Elisabeth Zemp, 2007
The debate on transdisciplinarity is still fairly young and the process of transdisciplinary research is still being developed. This final chapter is an attempt to stimulate the debate on, and the development of, transdisciplinary research.With the 15 propositions, the editors of the Handbook take a position on the definition, scope and process of transdisciplinary research; then we give hints on how to deal with some of the most persistent stumbling blocks in transdisciplinary practice; and finally, we highlight the corner stones needed to face the scientific, the institutional and the societal challenge.
The NCCR North-South is hosted by the University of Bern
and funded jointly by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
