Reflecting the Nepali Social Forum processes and 2018 event

ABSTRACT

This article reflects on one experiment that grounds the politics of World Social Forum in national and regional struggles. Nepal has now built a dynamic but fragile democratic process after a decade long Maoist insurgency that led to political transformation including secularism, republicanism, etc. The analysis is particularly relevant for political movements seeking ways forward in a political situation marked by sectarian struggles but also by the need to bring unity in the struggle against externally induced forces of oppression and exploitation.

KEYWORDS:

• Nepal Social Forum
• hierarchy
• participatory democracy

Acknowledgements

I am thankful to Arjun Kumar Thapa (Research Associate at SADED-Nepal) and Dr Hem Raj Kafle (Associate Professor at Kathamndu University) for their inputs in shaping this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Uddhab Pd. Pyakurel

Uddhab Pd. Pyakurel has his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and teaches Political Sociology at the School of Arts at Kathmandu University, Nepal. He is associated with various democracy forums, i.e. South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy (SADED), Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (VK), and Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD). He often contributes articles to journals and local newspapers on poverty, people’s participation, social inclusion/exclusion, state restructuring, micro-credit, gender, conflict, identity, democracy, election, Nepal’s foreign relations and other socio-political issues. Pyakurel who is also an Adjunct Fellow of Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative (HADRI), School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Western Sydney University, Australia since 2018 is the author of Maoist movement in Nepal: A sociological perspective (New Delhi: Adroit Publishers, 2007) and co-author of Nepal-India open border: Problems and prospects (New Delhi: Vij Books, 2016), Dalit representation in national politics of Nepal (Kathmandu: NNDSWO 2012) and State of conflict and democratic movement in Nepal (New Delhi: Vij Books, 2013). He is also the editor of Higher education in Nepal: Inclusive policy guidelines (Lalitpur: School of Arts, Kathmandu University & SNV-Nepal, 2014).