
Local Democracy in South Asia
Microprocesses of Democratization in Nepal and its Neighbours
SAGE Publications Inc (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 5. February 2008
Book
Hardback
468 pages
978-0-7619-3650-3 (ISBN)
Description
This volume, the first in a new series on governance, conflict, and civic action in South Asia, focuses on the larger countries of South Asia-Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and especially Nepal. The 15 essays in this volume analyze democracy both as a process and as a value. The essays also examine in ethnographic detail the way in which democracy is actually experienced in South Asia, ranging far beyond conventional political structures to look at conflict resolution, rhetorics of foreign aid, ethnic organizations, Maoist practices of local government, Dalit resistance, and so on.
Many of the processes that are analyzed in depth in the Nepalese context are shown to have their analogues in other South Asian countries. By putting Nepalese political and social processes firmly within their South Asian context, the current political crisis in Nepal is shown to be neither so radically new and different, nor so insoluble as it might appear. At the same time, the view from the peripheries of South Asia throws into relief the extent to which India has evolved away from the traditional caste-determined patron-client structures that once formed the framework of political action there.
The volume is a significant contribution to the study of how local democracy actually operates in South Asia. It will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and development specialists.
Many of the processes that are analyzed in depth in the Nepalese context are shown to have their analogues in other South Asian countries. By putting Nepalese political and social processes firmly within their South Asian context, the current political crisis in Nepal is shown to be neither so radically new and different, nor so insoluble as it might appear. At the same time, the view from the peripheries of South Asia throws into relief the extent to which India has evolved away from the traditional caste-determined patron-client structures that once formed the framework of political action there.
The volume is a significant contribution to the study of how local democracy actually operates in South Asia. It will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and development specialists.
Reviews / Votes
The book...is a significant attempt to study the methodologies adopted by the South Asian countries, while implementing local democratic institutions in their respective countries. -- The NewsMore details
Series
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Weight
648 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7619-3650-3 (9780761936503)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
David N Gellner is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls. He is the author of Monk, Householder, and Tantric Priest (1992) and The Anthropology of Buddhism and Hinduism: Weberian Themes (2001), and the co-author (with Sarah LeVine) of Rebuilding Buddhism: The Theravada Movement in Twentieth-Century Nepal (2005). Among his other edited volumes are Contested Hierarchies: A Collaborative Ethnography of Caste among the Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (with D. Quigley, 1995), Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom (with J. Pfaff-Czarnecka and J. Whelpton, Harwood, 1997; 2nd edition, 2008), Resistance and the State: Nepalese Experiences (2003; Berghahn, 2007), Nepalis Inside and Outside Nepal and Political and Social Transformations in North India and Nepal (both with H. Ishii and K. Nawa, 2007), Local Democracy in South Asia (with K. Hachhethu, 2008), and Ethnic Activism and Civil Society in South Asia (2009).
Krishna Hachhethu is Reader in Political Science and associated with the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS), Tribhuvan University. He is one of the Nepali directors of the MIDEA project. He is the author of Party Building in Nepal: Organization, Leadership and People (Mandala, 2002) and State of Democracy in Nepal (SDSA/N and International IDEA, 2004), and the co-author of Leadership in Nepal (Adroit, 2001), Women and Governance: Re-imagining the State from Gender Perspective (Nepal chapter) (S2, 2002), and Nepal: Local Leadership and Governance (Adroit, 2004). He has contributed articles to several academic books and journals published in Nepal and abroad.
Krishna Hachhethu is Reader in Political Science and associated with the Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS), Tribhuvan University. He is one of the Nepali directors of the MIDEA project. He is the author of Party Building in Nepal: Organization, Leadership and People (Mandala, 2002) and State of Democracy in Nepal (SDSA/N and International IDEA, 2004), and the co-author of Leadership in Nepal (Adroit, 2001), Women and Governance: Re-imagining the State from Gender Perspective (Nepal chapter) (S2, 2002), and Nepal: Local Leadership and Governance (Adroit, 2004). He has contributed articles to several academic books and journals published in Nepal and abroad.
Content
Preface
Introduction David N Gellner and Krishna Hachhethu
NEPAL: Obstacles to Local Leadership and Democracy in Nepal Dhruba Kumar
Local Democracy and Political Parties in Nepal: A Case Study of Dhanusha District Krishna Hachhethu
Distributional Coalitions in Nepal: An Essay on Democratization, Capture and (Lack of) Confidence Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka
Democracy and Ethnic Organizations in Nepal David N Gellner and Mrigendra Bahadur Karki
The 'Madhesi' People: Issues and Challenges of Democracy in the Nepal Tarai Dilli Ram Dahal
Dispute Settlement at the Local Level: Observations and Lessons from Nepal Bishnu Raj Upreti
Maoist People's Government, 2001-05: The Power in Wartime Kiyoko Ogura
Local Democracy and Local Government: A Case Study of Dhikure Pokhari Village Development Committee, Kaski, Nepal Uma Nath Baral
Foreign Aid, Democracy and Development: Personal Experiences Keshab Man Shakya
OTHER COUNTRIES OF SOUTH ASIA: Beyond 'the Net'? Institutions, Elites and the Changing Power Structure in Rural Bangladesh David Lewis and Abul Hossain
The Struggle for Local Government: Indian Democracy`s New Phase Peter Ronald Desouza
Changing Caste and Local Democracy: Assertion and Identity among Dalits of Rural Punjab Surinder S Jodhka
Engendering Local Democracy Research: Panchayati Raj and Changing Gender Relations in India Stefanie Strulik
Local Government Reforms in Pakistan: Strengthening Social Capital or Rolling Back the State? Shandana Khan Mohmand
Local Democracy: The Sri Lankan Experience Siri Hettige
Index
Introduction David N Gellner and Krishna Hachhethu
NEPAL: Obstacles to Local Leadership and Democracy in Nepal Dhruba Kumar
Local Democracy and Political Parties in Nepal: A Case Study of Dhanusha District Krishna Hachhethu
Distributional Coalitions in Nepal: An Essay on Democratization, Capture and (Lack of) Confidence Joanna Pfaff-Czarnecka
Democracy and Ethnic Organizations in Nepal David N Gellner and Mrigendra Bahadur Karki
The 'Madhesi' People: Issues and Challenges of Democracy in the Nepal Tarai Dilli Ram Dahal
Dispute Settlement at the Local Level: Observations and Lessons from Nepal Bishnu Raj Upreti
Maoist People's Government, 2001-05: The Power in Wartime Kiyoko Ogura
Local Democracy and Local Government: A Case Study of Dhikure Pokhari Village Development Committee, Kaski, Nepal Uma Nath Baral
Foreign Aid, Democracy and Development: Personal Experiences Keshab Man Shakya
OTHER COUNTRIES OF SOUTH ASIA: Beyond 'the Net'? Institutions, Elites and the Changing Power Structure in Rural Bangladesh David Lewis and Abul Hossain
The Struggle for Local Government: Indian Democracy`s New Phase Peter Ronald Desouza
Changing Caste and Local Democracy: Assertion and Identity among Dalits of Rural Punjab Surinder S Jodhka
Engendering Local Democracy Research: Panchayati Raj and Changing Gender Relations in India Stefanie Strulik
Local Government Reforms in Pakistan: Strengthening Social Capital or Rolling Back the State? Shandana Khan Mohmand
Local Democracy: The Sri Lankan Experience Siri Hettige
Index