One of the most important political transitions to occur in South Asia in recent decades was the ouster of Nepal’s monarchy in 2006 and the institution of a democratic secular republic in 2008. Based on extensive ethnographic research between 2003 and 2015, Making New Nepal provides a snapshot of an activist generation’s political coming-of-age during a decade of civil war and ongoing democratic street protests. Amanda Snellinger illustrates this generation’s entrée into politics through the stories of five young revolutionary activists as they shift to working within the newly established party system. She explores youth in Nepali national politics as a social mechanism for political reproduction and change, demonstrating the dynamic nature of democracy as a radical ongoing process.

Nepal's democracy struggle has been continuing for more than six decades. Since it could not sustain a stable democratic framework even after several attempts in the past, many scholars are stating that Nepal is in permanent transition. Once again, however, it has bagged enormous success in the field of political transformation in 2006 through a highly successful but peacefully organised movement with participation of people from all fields in large numbers. But it could not deconstruct the position of the transition as it has failed to institutionalise the recently gained achievements by making a new constitution even after five years. The only positive thing is that Nepali people, along with various political parties, are still trying hard to resolve vital conflicting issues through dialogue, and come up with a new democratic constitution, though they have already missed three deadlines.

"In this thesis I ask what constitutes a Nepali youth, and question what role they play in contemporary Nepal. Based on fieldwork conducted in Nepal from March 2008 to March 2009 and July to September 2010, my research contributes to an emerging body of work that problematises the youth construct in Nepal. Bucholtz (2002) has highlighted the increasingly salient roles that young people are playing in their societies and has called for an anthropology of youth as a pressing task. Faced with social, cultural, political and economic change, young Nepalis are playing more important social roles than ever before. I argue that one of these fundamental roles is nation building, the ideal product of which is popularly termed 'new Nepal'. I look at youth and their role as nation builders through a communication for development initiative that centres on two radio programs produced in Kathmandu. The content of these radio programs is re-packaged into local radio programs that are produced in regional radio stations, and community-level activities that are conducted by radio listeners clubs. I use Bolter and Grusin's (1999) concept of remediation to conceptualise this process and the changes to the youth archetype represented in the original radio programs. Following Novak's (2010) application of this concept, I argue that the process of remediation is a means for those involved to construct and practice a youth subjectivity. The youth I describe in this thesis are defined by an awareness of development that is displayed in activities that are oriented toward building a new Nepal. I conclude that the young people who play a role in making a new Nepal actively situate themselves within landscapes of power created by development through their engagement in the process of remediation. Development is a powerful element in the Nepali imagination that has tangible benefits for those who can demonstrate command over its rhetoric and align themselves with its visions and young people demonstrate this in their nation building activities. I argue that young people creatively engage in the process of remediation described in this thesis to position themselves within terrains of power created by development to ultimately define their own destinies and articulate their visions for a locally modern Nepal." -- leaf 8.

This book systematically analyzes why constitutions do not survive in Nepal, despite sixty years of constitutional history. The author discusses the epistemology of ethnic federalism in Nepal and examines the challenges of nation building and post-nation constitutionalism. The work addresses the connection between ethnic identity, right to self-determination, constitution making and state restructuring, offering possible ways forward for Nepal. Chapters consider lessons to be drawn from the past and examine reasons for the abolition of monarchy in Nepal. The book highlights the major problems that the first elected Constituent Assembly (CA) faced in promulgating a new constitution, before it was dissolved in 2012. The concept of right to self-determination and its complexities at the domestic level are all explored, along with ways forward to address the problem of constitutionalism, ethnic federalism and democracy. The author offers solutions as to how the second CA could address problems to promulgate a new constitution. The book elaborates on the role that constitutionalism plays in constitution making and the survival of a constitution. Scholars of politics and international studies, policy makers and those with an interest in law and constitution in Asia will all find this work of interest.

Reciting the Goddess presents the first critical study of the Svasthanivratakatha (SVK), a sixteenth-century Hindu narrative textual tradition. The extensive SVK manuscript tradition offers a rare opportunity to observe the making of a specific, distinct Hindu religious tradition. Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz argues that the SVK serves as a lens through which we can observe the creation of modern 'Hinduism' in the Himalayas, as the text both mirrored and informed key moments in the self-conscious creation of Nepal as the 'world's only Hindu kingdom' in the late medieval and early modern period. Birkenholtz mines the literary historiography that is contained within the SVK text itself, chronicling the text's literary and narrative development as well as the development of the Svasthani goddess tradition. She outlines the process whereby the SVK gradually transformed into a Purana text, and became a critical source for Nepali Hindu belief and identity. She also examines the elusive character of the goddess Svasthani whose identity is tied to the pan-Hindu goddess tradition, and the representation of women in the SVK and the ways in which the text influenced local and regional debates on the ideal of Hindu womanhood. Reciting the Goddess presents Nepal's celebrated SVK as a micro-level illustration of the powerful ways in which people, place, and literature intersect to produce new ideas and concepts of identity and place, even in a historically non-literate culture.

The Tharu of lowland Nepal are a group of culturally and linguistically diverse people who, only a few generations ago, would not have acknowledged each other as belonging to the same ethnic group. Today the Tharu are actively redefining themselves as a single ethnic group in Nepal's multiethnic polity. In Many Tongues, One People, Arjun Guneratne argues that shared cultural symbols—including religion, language, and common myths of descent—are not a necessary condition for the existence of a shared sense of peoplehood. The many diverse and distinct socio-cultural groups sharing the name "Tharu" have been brought together, Guneratne asserts, by a common relationship to the state and a shared experience of dispossession and exploitation that transcends their cultural differences. Tharu identity, the author shows, has developed in opposition to the activities of a modernizing, centralizing state and through interaction with other ethnic groups that have immigrated to the Tarai region where the Tharu live.This book"s claims have wide implications for the study of ethnic identity and are applicable far beyond Nepal. The emergence of the category of Native American, for example, may be considered an analogous case because that ethnic identity, like the Tharu, subsumes people of different cultural origin, and has been defined both through the state and against it.

Battles of the New Republic: A Contemporary History of Nepal is a story of Nepal's transformation from war to peace, monarchy to republic, a Hindu kingdom to a secular state, and a unitary to a potentially federal state. Part-reportage, part-history, part-analysis, part-memoir, and part-biography of the key characters, the book breaks new ground in political writing from the region. With access to the most powerful leaders in the country as well as diplomats, it gives an unprecedented glimpse into Kathmandu's high politics. But this is coupled with ground-level reportage on the lives of ordinary citizens of the hills and the plains, striving for a democratic, just and equitable society. It tracks the hard grind of political negotiations at the heart of the instability in Nepal. It traces the rise of a popular rebellion, its integration into the mainstream, and its steady decline. It investigates Nepal's status as a partly-sovereign country, and reveals India's overwhelming role. It examines the angst of having to prove one's loyalties to one's own country, and exposes the Hindu hill upper-caste dominated power structures. Battles of the New Republic is a story of the deepening of democracy, of the death of a dream, and of that fundamental political dilemma - who exercises power, to what end, and for whose benefit.