'Changing times': war and social transformation in Mid-Western Nepal

This thesis is an ethnographic account of social change, triggered by the civil war in Nepal (1996-2006). Based on an ethnographic fieldwork in the village of Thabang, the war-time capital of the Maoist base area, this thesis explores the transformative impact of the conflict on people’s everyday lives and on the constitution of key hierarchies structuring Nepali society. Rather than focusing on violence and fear – the commonly researched themes in warzones – the thesis examines people’s everyday social and embodied practices during the war and its aftermath, arguing that these remain central to our understanding of war-time social processes and the ways in which they shape the contours of post-conflict society. By focusing on mundane practices – such as meat-eating and alcohol-drinking, raising livestock and worshipping gods – the thesis demonstrates how change at the micro-level is illustrative of a profound transformation in the social structures constituting Nepali society. Theoretically, the thesis seeks to understand how the situation of war re-orders society: in this case, how people in the Maoist base area interiorized formerly transgressive norms and practices, and how these practices were normalized in the post-conflict environment. The research revealed that much of the change triggered by the conflict came as a result of the ‘exceptional’ times of war and the necessity to follow ‘rules that apply in times of crisis’. Thus, in adopting transgressive practices during the conflict, people were responding to the expediency of war-time rather than following Maoist war-time policies or ‘propaganda’. Furthermore, while adopting hitherto unimaginable practices and making them into habitual action, people transformed the rigid social structures, without necessarily intending to do so. The thesis puts particular stress on the centrality of unintended consequences in social change, the power of embodied practice in making change real, and the ways in which agency and structure are mutually constitutive.</p

'When Gods return to their homeland in the Himalayas': Maoism, religion, and change in the model village of Thabang, mid-western Nepal

Based on ethnographic research in the former Maoist base area of Nepal, this chapter explores the impact of the People’s War and Maoist ideology on religious beliefs and practices in Nepal. Drawing on the parable of the ‘flight of Gods’ and on the life history of one of the village elders, the chapter explores the gradual demise of Hinduism as a dominant mode of religious practice and weaves together key themes for understanding religious change engendered by the conflict -- de-sacralisation of once sacred spaces and once sacred polity, transgression of the boundaries between purity and pollution, increasing privatisation of religious practices, and creation of the vacuum in transcendent authority which in many cases is filled by new religious or quasi-religious movements, such as Christianity and Maoism itself

Balancing School and Work with New Opportunities: Changes in Children’s Gendered Time Use in Ethiopia (2006-2013)

Focusing on the relationship between children’s work and school attendance, this paper explores time use trends among boys and girls in Ethiopia. It does this by comparing the time use of two cohorts of children at the same age, 12 years, but interviewed at two different points in time, 2006 and 2013. In assessing the pattern over this period we have taken four contributory factors into account; gendered norms and aspirations for children’s futures; local opportunities for both schooling and work; the characteristics of schools and different kinds of work; and intra-household dynamics. Broad trends are identified through survey data and case studies of two rural communities that have experienced rapid economic and social transformation, with associated increases in gendered opportunities for work. We find that overall there is a small reduction in the hours worked by 12-year-olds over the seven years. However, this trend is mainly in urban areas. Rural boys are found to have increased their working hours. By examining two case-study communities that have experienced increasing economic development and gendered work opportunities we find that, contrary to expectations, the increased returns to work have lowered boys’ education aspirations and increased their school drop-out rates relative to girls’

'When Gods return to their homeland in the Himalayas': Maoism, religion, and change in the model village of Thabang, mid-western Nepal

Based on ethnographic research in the former Maoist base area of Nepal, this chapter explores the impact of the People’s War and Maoist ideology on religious beliefs and practices in Nepal. Drawing on the parable of the ‘flight of Gods’ and on the life history of one of the village elders, the chapter explores the gradual demise of Hinduism as a dominant mode of religious practice and weaves together key themes for understanding religious change engendered by the conflict -- de-sacralisation of once sacred spaces and once sacred polity, transgression of the boundaries between purity and pollution, increasing privatisation of religious practices, and creation of the vacuum in transcendent authority which in many cases is filled by new religious or quasi-religious movements, such as Christianity and Maoism itself

'Changing times': war and social transformation in Mid-Western Nepal

This thesis is an ethnographic account of social change, triggered by the civil war in Nepal (1996-2006). Based on an ethnographic fieldwork in the village of Thabang, the war-time capital of the Maoist base area, this thesis explores the transformative impact of the conflict on people’s everyday lives and on the constitution of key hierarchies structuring Nepali society. Rather than focusing on violence and fear – the commonly researched themes in warzones – the thesis examines people’s everyday social and embodied practices during the war and its aftermath, arguing that these remain central to our understanding of war-time social processes and the ways in which they shape the contours of post-conflict society. By focusing on mundane practices – such as meat-eating and alcohol-drinking, raising livestock and worshipping gods – the thesis demonstrates how change at the micro-level is illustrative of a profound transformation in the social structures constituting Nepali society. Theoretically, the thesis seeks to understand how the situation of war re-orders society: in this case, how people in the Maoist base area interiorized formerly transgressive norms and practices, and how these practices were normalized in the post-conflict environment. The research revealed that much of the change triggered by the conflict came as a result of the ‘exceptional’ times of war and the necessity to follow ‘rules that apply in times of crisis’. Thus, in adopting transgressive practices during the conflict, people were responding to the expediency of war-time rather than following Maoist war-time policies or ‘propaganda’. Furthermore, while adopting hitherto unimaginable practices and making them into habitual action, people transformed the rigid social structures, without necessarily intending to do so. The thesis puts particular stress on the centrality of unintended consequences in social change, the power of embodied practice in making change real, and the ways in which agency and structure are mutually constitutive.This thesis is not currently available in OR