This book explores the role of tourism in the expression of nationalism in Nepal. It investigates assemblage of images, emblems, and symbols of Nepali nationhood in various touristic representations and narratives from Nepali travellers and diasporic visitors to showcase how they express nationhood and stimulate a strong sentiment of national feeling and belonging. The book suggests that touristic settings in Nepal provide a venue for articulation of nation, first through internal ascription, that is, the construction of identity by citizens with the nation; and second, through the promotion of distinctive touristic identity through the assertion of national uniqueness and distinguishing the nation within the larger international community. Given the recent great political changes, post-conflict nation rebuilding, and development, Nepal offers a fascinating case study on the role of tourism and nationalism. This book will be of great interest to students, scholars, and professionals working in tourism and heritage studies, sociology, anthropology, geography, political science, and area studies, as well as those interested in the study of developing societies.

With a team of anthropologists and geographers, Insidious Capital explores “value and values” in what may well be the last phase of capitalist globalization. In a global perspective of fast transforming social spaces that move from East to West, the book explores the struggles around the exploitation and valuation of labor, environmental politics, expansion of the ground rent, new hierarchies, the contradictions of higher education, the off shoring of “immaterial” labor, the illiberal right, and the mobilizations against it. This is a book about the variegated frontlines of value within an uneven, but not random, geography of capitalist expansion.

This book combines academic analysis and critical exploration to examine national narratives in the context of tourism and events around the world. It explores how particular narratives are woven to tell (and sell) a national story. By deconstructing images of the nation, it closely examines how national texts create key archival imagery that can promote tourism and events while also shaping national identity. It investigates the complex relationship between state appropriation of marketing strategies and the commercial use of nationalist discourses. The book aims to demystify the ways in which the nation is imagined by key organisers and organisations and then communicated to millions.

This volume explores new perspectives on contemporary forms of violence in South Asia. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and case studies, it examines the infiltration of violence at the societal level and affords a comparative regional analysis of its historical, cultural and geopolitical origins in South Asia. Featuring essays from Sri Lanka to Nepal, and from Afghanistan to Burma, it sheds light on issues as wide-ranging as lynching and mob justice, hate speech, caste violence, gender-based violence and the plight of the Rohingyas, among others. Lucid and engaging, this book will be an invaluable source of reference as well as scholarship to students and researchers of postcolonial studies, anthropology, sociology, cultural geography, minority studies, politics and gender studies.

Book Review

This book explores the dynamic interaction between religion and tourism in the modern world. It considers questions such as: do travellers leave their religion at home when they are touring – and what happens if not? what are the relationships between tourism and pilgrimage? what happens to religious performances, places and festivals that function as tourism attractions? Other chapters examine religious theme parks, wellness and spa tourism, the roles played by tourist guides, guidebooks and religious souvenirs, and the role of tourism as a major arena of religious encounters in the contemporary world. Surveying the growing body of work in the field, Michael Stausberg argues that tourism should be a major focus of research within religious studies.

The book explores emerging themes, concepts, and issues in ethnic tourism, through examination of theoretical underpinnings and empirical research in various ethnic destinations worldwide. It encapsulates cultural, environmental, and economic dimensions of ethnic tourism, which is a force of change in many ethnic communities and suggests means through which local benefits can be enhanced and costs reduced. This book presents a range of case studies from diverse well-known ethnic destinations which reveal the various outcomes and changes engendered by ethnic tourism, such as the commodification of ethnic culture, the exploitation of minority peoples by outsiders, and the impact of wider forces of modernization and national integration policies. It summarizes what has been done so far and suggests initiatives to increase the contribution of tourism to the economic development and quality of life of ethnic communities. It brings together a diversity of perspectives that are not currently readily available in one location. The book will appeal to students, and scholars interested in social sciences, tourism studies, geography, anthropology, sociology and economics, as well as in applied disciplines such as planning. It addresses academic and professional audiences that are interested in tourism and its consequences, as well as those who are interested in ethnic, including indigenous peoples, and their circumstances.

This book explores how the experience of modernization is revealed in China's newly constructed tourist landscapes. It argues that in China's burgeoning ethnic tourist villages and theme parks can be seen all the contradictions, debasement, and liberating potentials of Chinese modernity. Tim Oakes uses the province of Guizhou to examine the Chinese tourist industry as an example of the state's modernization policies and how local people have engaged with these changes.

Theatre of Nepal and the People Who Make It is the first comprehensive look at Nepali theatre for readers outside of Nepal. Charting Nepali theatre from ancient times to the present and from the metropolis of Kathmandu to far-flung regions, this book highlights the history of formal theatre and connects it to shifting political and social conditions in the country. Sourcing extensive fieldwork, it takes us backstage to meet individual theatre makers and learn their unique attributes and stories. From these intimate glimpses and the intertwining of political history with theatrical expression, a portrait emerges that conveys the character of Nepalis who, in spite of adversities, continue to dramatize their hopes, fears, principles, and priorities through theatrical means.