Occasional Papers in Sociology and Anthropology - Volume 1, 198

Bista, Dor Bahadur

English

Apollo (Cambridge)

6NEPAL SCHOOL OF SOCIOLOGY/ANTHROPOLOGYDar Bahadur BistaIn Nepal, where tradition dominates so much of our lives,it is ironic that with regard to sociology and anthropology wehave no tradition at all to follow, but only one to establish. Thisalso makes our task relatively simple: all we have to do is makean honest effort without any pretensions, because we cannot beany better or worse than we really are. We must remember that inthe field of sociology and anthropology we are starting with aclean slate. We have to admit with all humility that we do notknow exactly what design will ultimately emerge. But that neednot deter us from acting, because if we hesitate and fumble,others will make their advances.We have already made two important beginnings: first,the decision to construct a single course of study for students ofSociology and Anthropology; and second, the decision to find asingle professional association for Sociologists andAnthropologists. Thus the dye is already cast. All we have to donow is to apply our principles to the tasks at hand.Nepal (compared to many other countries around theworld) has had the unique advantage of developing the disciplineof anthropology in a relatively short span of time. Until 1950,Nepal was isolated and inaccessible to outsiders except forpeoples from adjacent and contiguous areas. So there was noway anthropology, which was primarily developed by Westernsocieties during their colonial period, could have developed orbeen practiced in Nepal until scholars from Western societieswere admi.tted into the country and allowed to conduct theirstudies. As a land with a multitude of linguistic, cultural andethnic groups living in a relatively small land area, Nepal attractedWestern scholars and students in increasing numbers from the50' s up through the present.All this activity has produced a considerable amount ofliterature, published mainly in the West in the form of journal7articles, monographs, reports, and dissertations submitted tograduate departments of sociology and anthropology. Eventhough some of the reports and most of the dissertations do notever appear or become accessible to Nepalese readers, they cannevertheless be read by serious students with a certain amount ofinitiative and effort. In addition to this, there is also quite asubstantial ethnographic literature published in Nepal in Englishand Nepali, mainly by the teaching staff of the PanchayatTraining Institutes, the Royal Nepal Academy, and many otherNepalese who are working in other sectors of the government orat the university. .Since materials written in Nepali are rarely read byforeigners, the fragmented nature of the reports available so far inWestern languages has produced a very curious image ofNepalese in the eyes of Western people, something which isoften reflected in the questions they sometimes ask about us. Inother words, the separate, specialized studies do not add up to ageneral and composite picture of Nepalese society at large. Mostof the works done so far talk only about one micro-situation oranother, representing only a fragment of the total truth aboutNepal. Some reports -- studies of the contact zones showingconflict or co-ordination -- also represent only a small area anddepict localized small communities. None of these materialsexplain much that is useful and meaningful for the planning oradministrative purposes of the country. Some of them, however,are useful for the development of the science of the disciplineitself. There are anthropologists who consider that this is the limitof what anthropology can contribute, but this view is largelyoutdated. Anthropology can certainly study not only separatecommunities but also the process of integration among differentethnic groups and castes. Applied anthropology is a widelyaccepted discipline.That anthropology in Nepal should "come of age" as inmany developed countries around the world is obvious, as itserves two important functions. First, it promotes and defendsthe national culture and helps maintain the national identity of thecountry and its people. Second, it studies (to whatever possibleextent) all the aspects of different Nepalese cultures, in additionto other outside cultures, and joins together the InternationalII8community of social scientists for the promotion of science andfor the broader cause of service to humanity. It is time that weshare the burden and responsibility of the internationalcommunity of anthropologists. This is what is meant by "comingof age". Nepalese anthropologists can certainly work towards thedevelopment of theoretical concepts, modes, paradigms, andprocesses based on their studies of the different aspects ofNepalese society and culture while acting as a catalyst in theprocess of national economic development.Studies for the sake of science so far have been conductedmainly by foreign anthropologists. It seems that this will continueto be the case for some time to come. But what about thepromotion and defense of our own national culture? This is whatNepalese anthropologists alone can do; outsiders can not beexpected to do this. Nepalese anthropologist will have to studyvarious societies at the micro-level before they can talkmeaningfully about the promotion and defense of a nationalculture. The plural Nepalese society still needs to develop acomposite culture acceptable to the majority, so that the Nepalesepopulation can identify with it, and derive a sense of belonging,pride and satisfaction from it. This can happen only if all aregiven the freedom to play their own role without one dominatingthe other. The present competition and disorder among differentethnic, linguistic and religious groups cannot continue forever. Itis unrealistic to expect that a single group could win out in all thespheres of language, religion, lifestyle values and materialculture. The state will have to promote an integrative approach.This is where Nepalese anthropologists could playa very crucialrole in the coming decades, and that is why I see the need for aNepalese school of anthropology as not only obvious butabsolutely essential. Nepalese anthropologists cannot continue toplay the clownish role of an adjunct to an alien style of thinkingnor remain a slave to sterile and outdated life-style. They willhave to create their own little arena where the future of Nepall~taken constantly into consideration in their deliberations,writings, researche and publications. Kinship and marriage,religion and social control, as separate institutions, cannot occupyall our time forever.9An.thr!Jpology may need..,-to mainl!J.in. the tra.ditio.n ofwestern tlunking for Its own saxe m some blg.cname unIversities.They can afford to do so. Their departmenlS of anthropologyusually are one among dozens of other disciplines and in auniversity which is one among several hundreds. As such, thosescholars and graduate students, if counted among millions ofgraduates of their own society, are only an infinitely small andmsignificant minority. But Nepalese graduates or scholars inanthropology are among the extremely privileged few who areexpected to play very significant roles in theIr country, evenwhen comparatively their number is just as insignificant as thenumber of scholars in the West. I~agine the burden ofresponsibility a Nepalese graduate of anthropology wouldshoulder in the continuing process of modernization of thecountry. This is not the case with most anthropologists of theindustrially advanced and affluent societies of the world.Anthropologists from such societies should continue to conductresearch for their own sake. A few individuals may even continuetheir Bohemian style. In contrast, the Nepalese graduates ofsociology and anthropology can have very responsible jobs in thenear future if they are encouraged to adopt a constructive attitudetowards work, their society, and their training. By constructiveattitude I mean a positive and future-oriented attitude in place ofover-romanticized nostalgia, or an insecure and thoughtlessmimicry of the West. Is It not obvious that we cannot reallymimic and follow the style of thinking of our Westerncounterparts no matter how competent and qualified theythemselves may be?Qualified they all are. In technical fields or in hardsciences, which do not regard human sentiments and institutionsas important, we can continue to be guided by the West in thefuture. But in areas involving human institutions, sentiments,values, and cultural behavior generally we cannot rely on or seekadvice from our Western gurus and advisors beyond a certainlimit. In generalizations and in abstractions our Westerncolleagues can still be very helpful. The best among them havehad much broader and global perspective. But we cannot rely toomuch on an expert on one ethnIC, regional, or caste group toforever advise courses of action. Nevertheless, we cancomplement each other if we carefully steer our courses ofdevelopment in the field of anthropology.10Hence the need for the Nepal school of anthropology isquite pressing. We will have to keep all of this in mind when wedevelop the curriculum for the Department ofSociology/Anthropology, as we will have to do this when thefirst group of undergraduate students fmish their courses of studyby the end of summer 1987. Unless we keep in mind the need ofthe country in coming years and the possible role our graduatestudents will be playing in shaping the future course of Nepalesesociety, it is possible that we will have provided a very outdatedorientation and a useless nonfunctional education to our youngpeople.Departments of sociology and anthropology at some otheruniversities may not be doing exactly what we want to do. So wemay not be able to find a model anywhere. Visiting scholars orgraduate students from outside cannot be models either. Theirneeds and values are different from ours. Our students will haveto be strongly oriented towards the observation of the processand dynamics of emergent Nepalese society at an allencompassing level. This will be our Nepal school ofanthropology. At this stage, we should not concern ourselves toomuch with whether or not our graduates will be recognized byone or the other famous universities around the world; that is notyet our priority. Anthropology in its application has alwaysserved the interests of the people who have used it. It began as ahandmaiden of Western Christian missionaries, followed bycolonial governments who used it quite extensively in many partsof the non-western and non-Christian world. In recent decades,applied anthropology has been used by U.N. agencies, WHO,World Bank, and international aid organizations for various typesof development activities. Recently, it is also being used byindustries and multinational corporations for sales promotionsand production expansions.Our priority at the moment is for graduates whounderstand the dynamics of Nepalese society and have the abilityto project a better future for the people at the lower economiclevels and provide a wider base for participation in the creation ofa resilient and progressive national culture with a strong nationalidentity. This will be Nepal's own school.of anthropology.IISOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROI'OLOGY CURRICULUMAND THE NEEDS OF NEPALKrishna B. BhalTac/wnIIntroductionAlthough sociology and anthrop'ology emerged in theWest during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, thedisciplines entered Nepal only during the early 1950's at theresearch level and in 1981 at the teaching level. the latter in acombined form. Thus, sociology and anthropology, so rich andmature in theories and methods, is just five years old in Ncpal.Until 1981, Sarana and Sinha's statement about the status ofanthropology in Asia was coneCl: "To the best of our knowJcd~e.anthropology has not been accorded independent acaderilicrecognition in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladcsh.although there are some anthropologists working in basicallynon-anthropological institutions" (1976:210).In Nepal, however, the situation has changed since thcn.Sociology and anthropology are now taught at the Master's Icvelat Tribhuvan University. A Master's level program is taught atthe Kirtipur campus, and at four other campuses -- Pokhara,Kathmandu, Patan, and Biratnagar -- a B.A. level program hasjust been introduced. We must now evaluate our pastperfonnancc and take stock of what we possess of wciology andanthropology cuniculum, its relevance to the needs fJf Nepal, andfuture demands, needs, and pliorities.With these facts in mind, this paper will outline thedevelopment of the sociology and anthropology curriculum.critically review the current nature and the needs of Nepal, anddiscuss the problems and issues in curriculum de·Jelopmcnl.

Nepal School of Sociology/Anthropology

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