The book deals with the dynamics and growth of a violent 21st century communist rebellion initiated by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), explaining the different causes, factors that contributed to its growth, strategies employed by the rebels and the state, and the consequences of the insurgency.

Neglect of socio- economic needs, inequality and injustice in Nepali society attributed to the genesis of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. In early 1990, a mass upsurge Jana Andolan paved way for multi party of governance in Nepal. The opening up of the polity increased the awareness of inequality which helped Maoist insurgency to grow dramatically. However, in November 2005, a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was reached between the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML) and other main stream political parties. Monarchy was abolished. Election to the Constituent Assembly was held and a coalition government was been put in place. Inadequate steps to address the ethnic, economic and political aspirations of multi- ethnic groups have caused further unrest and created conditions for newer conflicts. Nepal shares border with India particularly with Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, there is free movement across the borders. This facilitates movement of mafia groups, drug trafficking and political activities. Control of cross border activities remains difficult and led to serious cross border implications.

Papers presented at the National Workshop on the Naxalite Movement, held at Chennai during 28-29 January 2005.

Ethnic and nationalist movements surged forward in Nepal after restoration of democracy in 1990. This book analyses the rise in ethnic mobilization, the dynamics and trajectories of these movements and their consequences for Nepal.

There has been growing concern about "failed states", and since the massacre of the Royal family in Nepal in 2001, increasing media attention has focused on the decline of the state and the rise of the Maoist rebels. This book explores the complex relationship between a modernizing, developmentalist state and the people it professes to represent.

Paradise Lost examines the state-society relationships in Nepal and demonstrates that the nature of the state, disjuncture between the state and the society, and the rupture of the ideological hegemony of the ruling class of Nepal have created a situation where existing institutional frameworks are disintegrating and the state is rapidly unraveling. Dr. Ali Riaz and Dr. Subho Basu analyze the roles of ethnicity, identity, and deprivation, in engendering discontent and the rise of the Maoists as a formidable political force. Mindful of the geo-strategic importance of the country, this book contextualizes these domestic developments within the post-9/11 global world. Jointly authored by a political scientist and a historian this book brings together structural and historical perspectives. Written in an engaging language, Paradise Lost? will appeal to political scientists, historians, sociologists, and those interested in current affairs.

This book presents a conceptual and methodological framework to understand South Asia by engaging with the practices of sociology and social anthropology in India and Nepal. It provides a new imagination of South Asia by connecting historical, political, religious and cultural divides of the region. Drawing from the experiences of Indian and Nepali social anthropology, the book discusses the presence of Nepal studies in Indian social anthropology and vice versa. It highlights Nepal or South Asia as a subject for social anthropological research and stresses on pluriversal knowledge production through regional scholarship, dialogic social anthropology, South Asian episteme, post-Western social anthropology and the decolonisation of disciplines. In exploring the themes and problems of doing social anthropology in Nepal by Indian scholars, the book assesses the scope of developing the South Asian social anthropological worldview. It explains why social anthropological and sociological inquiry in India has failed to surpass its focus beyond the territorial limits of the nation state. The book examines the issues of methodological nationalism and social anthropological research tradition in South Asia. By using the Saidian framework of travelling theory and Bhambra’s idea of connected sociologies, it shows how social anthropology can develop disciplinary crossroads within South Asia. This book will be of interest to students, teachers and researchers of South Asian studies, anthropology, sociology, social anthropology, South Asian sociology, cultural anthropology, social psychology, area studies, cultural studies, Nepal studies and Global South studies.

Insurgencies in the 21st century are different than the Cold War era ones that generated existing doctrine and strategy, and which shaped the way that most American strategists think about insurgency. The beast has mutated and evolved. So, too, must those who confront it. To help Army and Department of Defense leaders master these new challenges, the Strategic Studies Institute publishes a special series entitled "Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in the 21st Century." This monograph, which assesses the growing insurgency in Nepal with its potential to further destabilize an already volatile region, is a path-breaking and an excellent inaugural effort in this new series.

This unique new book addresses the rise of death studies as an academic discipline, and serves those who work in the anthropology of death and loss. It gives a perspective on death, with reference to Maoists politics and violence in Nepal, so will also appeal to scholars of the region, and its Maoists movements. This work aims to add and contribute to cultural and regional perspective in death studies. There has been little written on death studies in conflict situations, from a South Asian perspective. Therefore, this book extends the current literature in death and bereavement perspectives beyond western academic exploration.