Natural Resources and Social Justice Agenda in Nepal: From Local Experiences and Struggles to Policy Reform
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53037/na.v5i1.11Keywords:
social justice, hydropower, REDD , fishing, National Park, NepalAbstract
The demand for greater community control over natural resources have been profound in recent decades in Nepal and beyond. These demands go together with calls for social justice, which remains a coveted goal in the struggles over resources and development. However, social justice remains an elusive idea in regard to what it is and how it can be achieved in societies characterized by inequalities based on caste, ethnicity, class and gender. Accordingly, it is far from clear what specific policy and legal provisions work well in particular historical, social and political contexts. This article surveys the theoretical debate of social justice generally, and the way it helps understand local peoples’ experiences and claims around natural resources and development projects. Drawing upon the literature, it highlights the pluralist framework of social justice in terms of the ideas of redistribution, recognition and participation, and employs that framework for the analysis of three diverse cases from in Nepal: a) hydropower project development in Lamjung, b) rights of fishing communities in Kailali, and c) program
on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). The analysis shows that, while Nepal’s constitution and political rhetoric acknowledges the rights and entitlements to disadvantaged groups, it has not abetted the need for local struggles for resource access and control. Broad policy announcements lack follow-through measures and tools, where more attention will be needed in order for a more socially just resource
governance and development.
References
Agarwal, B., 2001. Participatory exclusions, community forestry, and gender: an analysis for South Asia and a conceptual framework. World Development, 29, pp.1623-1648.
Ahuti, 2004. The question of Dalit emancipation within a Hindu society. In: M. Des Chene & P. Onta, eds. Sociological thought in Nepalese context. (Nepali text). Lalitpur: Social Science Baha, pp.475-521.
Ambedkar, B.R., 2005. Caste in India. In: G. Shah, ed. Caste and democratic politics in India. Delhi: Permanent Black.
Avineri, S. and De-Shalit, A. eds., 1992. Communitarianism and individualism. New York: Oxford University Press.
Behr, T., 2005. Luigi Taparelli and social justice: rediscovering the origins of a “hallowed” Concept. Social Justice in Context, 5, pp.3-16.
CBS, 2014a. Population monograph of Nepal, Volume I, population dynamics. Kathmadu: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS)
CBS, 2014b. Population monograph of Nepal, Volume II, social demography. Kathmadu: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Clayton, M. and Williams, A. eds., 2004. Social Justice. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
DOED, 2014. List of issued generation licenses. Available on Department of Electricity Development (DOED), Ministry of Energy, Water Resource and Irrigation. http://www. doed.gov.np/construction_ license_for_generation.php; assessed on 14th June 2014.
Fleischacker, S., 2004. A short history of distributive justice. Cambridge and London: Harvard University Press.
Fraser, N., 1997. Justice interruptus: critical reflections on the post-socialist condition. New York: Routledge.
Gewirtz, S., Cribb, A., 2002. Plural conceptions of social justice: Implications for policy sociology. Journal of Education Policy, 17(5), pp.499-509.
Gurung, H., 2003. Social demography of Nepal: Census 2001. Lalitpur: Himal Books.
Hyome, K., 2006. The discrimination against the Madhesis and the movement for equality. In: B. Thapa, and M. Mainali, eds. Madhesh: problem and prospects. (Nepali text). Kathmandu: Social Science Baha, pp.112-126.
Jackson, B., 2003. Equality of nothing? Social justice on the British Left, c.1911-31. Journal of Political Ideologies, 8(1), pp.83-110.
Jackson, B., 2005. The conceptual history of social justice. Political Studies Review, 3, pp.356-73.
Khatri, D., Maskey, G., Adhikari, B., 2018. REDD+ and community forestry in Nepal: strengthening or paralyzing decentralized governance? Journal of Forest and Livelihood, 16(1), pp.35-55.
Lawoti, M., 2007. Contentious politics and democratizing Nepal. In: M. Lawoti, ed. Contentious Politics and Democratization of Nepal. New Delhi: Sage, pp.17-47.
MFSC, 2002. Nepal Biodiversity Strategy. Kathmandu: Ministry of forests and Soil Conservation (MFSC).
MFSC, 2014a. Forest Policy 2014 (BS 2071), Nepali text. Kathmandu: Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation.
MFSC, 2014b. Guidelines for community forestry development program. 3rd edition. Kathmandu: Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MFSC).
MoFE, 2018. Nepal National REDD+ Strategy. Kathmandu: Ministry of Forest and Environment (MoFE).
NEFIN, 2016. Position statement of indigenous peoples on emission reduction program of Nepal, Kathmandu: Nepalese Federation of Indigenous Nationalities.
Rawls, J., 1999. A theory of justice. Revised edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
REDD IC, 2015. Developing a feedback and grievance redress mechanism for REDD+ implementation in Nepal. Kathmandu: REDD Implementation Centre.
REDD IC, 2016., Cost benefit sharing arrangement for emission reduction program in the Terai Arc Landscape, Policy Brief 14, March 2016.
Ritzer, G., 1996. The McDonaldization of society: an investigation into the changing character of contemporary social life. Thousand Oaks, Calif.Pine Forge Press.
Roemer, J.E., 1996. Theories of distributive justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Robinson, F., 2006. Islam and Muslim history in South Asia. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Schlosberg, D., 2004. Reconceiving environmental justice: global movements and political theories. Environmental Politics, 13(3), pp.517-540.
Schlosberg, D., 2013. Theorizing environmental justice: the expanding sphere of a discourse. Environmental Politics, 22(1), pp.37-55.
Sharma, P., 2008. Unravelling the mosaic: Spatial aspects of ethnicity in Nepal. Kathmandu: Himal Books.
Sherpa, P.D., 2013. Nepal: issues and challenges relation to the rights and livelihoods of indigenous peoples in REDD+. In: REDD+ Safeguards more than good intentions: case studies from the Accra caucus. Accra Caucus on Forest and climate change, pp.17-20. Downloaded from http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/Accra%20report%20 vol%203_eng_final.pdf, 10th Dec 2016.
Scott, J.C., 1985. Weapons of the weak: Everyday forms of peasant resistance. New Haven and London: Yale.
Thoms, C., 2008. Community control of resources and the challenge of improving local livelihoods: a critical examination of community forestry in Nepal. Geoforum, 39, pp.1452-1465.
Verma, V., 2000. Justice, equality and community: an essay in Marxist political theory. New Delhi: Sage.
Vishwakarma, H., 2002. The Dalits of Nepal and their struggle for social justice. Development, 45(3), pp.90-2.
World Bank and DFID, 2006. Unequal citizens: gender, caste and ethnic exclusion in Nepal, Summary. Kathmandu: The World Bank and UK Department for International Development (DFID).
Yar, M., 2001. Beyond Nancy Fraser's 'perspectival dualism'. Economy and Society, 30(3), pp.288-303.
Yasmi, Y., Kelley, L., Murdiyarso, D. and Patel, T., 2012. The struggle over Asia's forests: an overview of forest conflict and potential implications for REDD+. International Forestry Review, 14(1), pp.99-109.
Young, I.M., 1990. Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
