The Material Politics of Citizenship: Struggles over Resources, Authority and Belonging in the New Federal Republic of Nepal

Andrea J. Nightingale, Lutgart Lenaerts, Ankita Shrestha, Pema Norbu Lama ‘Tsumpa’, Hemant R. Ojha

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6 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Examining the boundaries of state–society–citizen–environment after the federal restructuring in Nepal, we ask how do people claim authority or citizenship rights? We theorise state power through the socio-environmental state framework as a set of socio-natural relations in the making, formed by struggles over authority, recognition and environment. Using qualitative data from Barpak, the epicentre of the 2015 earthquake, we capture the politics of natural resource governance that (re)emerged during earthquake reconstruction and local-level elections, illustrating how control over resources is negotiated, disputed, and inscribed in law (land titles and water sources) and landscapes (water sources, earthquake resettlement area, an open-air museum).

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)886-902
Number of pages17
JournalSouth Asia: Journal of South Asia Studies
Volume42
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 3 Sept 2019

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