The quest for development in Nepal

Abstract

This thesis examine the extent to which national and international development assistance to rural areas in Nepal have influenced local perceptions of development, and whether or not these ideas are commonly shared among villagers and also reflected in which organizations they are a part of. The fieldwork was carried out in Melamchi Valley in Nepal. The Nepali word for development, bikaas, is deeply rooted in the Nepalese society and every day life. It is manifested as a category through which people think, act and guide their perception of themselves and the world. This study reveals that there are co-existing and diverse notions about development depending on the actor s background and group belonging and can be divided into two main categories. The first category consists mainly of peasants, which view development as the link between them and the rest of the world. This coincides with Pigg s (1992) findings. They further hope that development assistance will help them to become a more modern society. The second category, which mainly consists of members in favour of the Maoists Movement, is hostile towards foreign aid. Their aggression can be understood on two premises; they perceive development assistance as the continuation of colonialism, which is in line with Escobar s (1984) criticism. Secondly, that most aid money has benefited the upper classes and people living in urban areas. This thesis further demonstrates that actors perception of development assistance is also reflected in which groups they are a part of. A common denominator for both categories is that the members portray their actions as modern; either it is peasants joining groups that work for community development or marginalized youths joining the Maoists Movement. This phenomenon has to be understood that the state lead development has not brought many changes around for either of these groups. Based on different premises both Maoists and peasants, feel that they play an active role in changing their lives and portray their actions as modern. The case study of the Social Uplift Program shows that there are many interests at stake in such a diverse community as the Nepali society, and illustrate how difficult it is for projects to reach the poorest of the poor. The interest in representing a community towards the project is important for those involved to canalise the resources to their own community and strengthen their own position. An example is how Melamchi Local Concern Group, which members are mostly high caste, can be said to act as what Long (2000) calls a collective actor for the community. The group claim to represent the whole community and their interests, including low caste, in contact towards the project.