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ABSTRACT
In this article, using the Department of Irrigation in Nepal as a case study, we argue that professional performance in irrigation engineering and water resources development is gendered and normalised as ‘masculine’. In Nepal, the masculinity of professional performance in irrigation engineering is located in intersections of gender, class, caste, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality and disciplinary education, and hinders especially female engineers to perform as a ‘normal’ engineer. Our analysis is based on interviews with male and female engineers in the department, documentation research, and ethnographic observations in the period 2005–2011. Our study suggests that professional performances and engineering identities in the organisation have always been tied to performances of masculinity. This implies that career prospects in the Nepalese irrigation department for female engineers remain grim; because for them to succeed and belong, they have to reconcile the near incommensurable: a performance of a ‘lady engineer’ with that of a ‘normal’ engineer.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Lynch, “The Bureaucratic Tradition and women's Invisibility in Irrigation,” 1993; Laurie, “Developing Development Orthodoxy,” 2005; Zwarteveen, “Men, Masculinities and Water Powers in Irrigation,” 2008, “Questioning Masculinities in Water,” 2011; Udas and Zwarteveen, “Can Water Professionals Meet Gender Goals?” 2010; Ongsakul et al., “Normalizing Masculinities in Water Bureaucracy in Thailand,” 2012; Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014; and Udas, “Gendered Water Participation in Nepal,” 2014.
2 Whitehead, Men and Masculinities, 2002, p. 5.
3 ERA, Middle-level Manpower Follow-up Study, 1973; Shrestha et al., Job Environment and Job Consciousness of Agricultural Graduates, 1980; WECS, Maximizing the Participation of Nepali Human Resource in the Ministry of Water Resources, 1984, Series I. Changing Role of Women in the Water and Energy Sectors, 1991, Study Report on Professional Development Opportunities for Women in Nepal, 1996; HMG/N, Human Resources Development Study, 1989; Parikh and Sukhatme, “Women Engineers in India,” 1994, “Women Engineers in India,” 2004; Adhikary, Women Graduates in Agriculture and Forestry Development in Nepal, 1995; Karmacharya et al., “Demand and Supply of Women Professionals in the NRM Sector in Nepal,” 2003; Parikh et al., “Job Status and Career Profile of Women Engineers in India,” 2003; Gupta, “Indian Women in Doctoral Education in Science and Engineering,” 2007; and SaciWaters, Situational Analysis of Women Water Professionals in South Asia, 2011.
4 Nair, Women in Indian Engineering, 2012, p. 34.
5 Parikh and Sukhatme, “Women Engineers in India,” 2004, p. 193 and Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014, pp. 104–112.
6 See Nair, Women in Indian Engineering,” 2012, pp. 12–17.
7 SaciWaters, Situational Analysis of Women Water Professionals in South Asia, 2011.
8 Adhikary, Women Graduates in Agriculture and Forestry Development in Nepal, 1995, p. 15.
9 Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014, pp. 61–68.
10 Gupta, “Indian Women in Doctoral Education in Science and Engineering,” 2007, p. 512.
11 Parikh and Sukhatme, “Women Engineers in India,” 2004, p. 195.
12 Gupta, “Indian Women in Doctoral Education in Science and Engineering,” 2007 and Armato, “Wolves in Sheep's Clothing,” 2013.
13 WECS, Series I. Changing Role of Women in the Water and Energy Sectors, 1991, p. 24.
14 SaciWaters, Situational Analysis of Women Water Professionals in South Asia, 2011, p. 14.
15 Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014 and Udas, “Gendered Water Participation in Nepal,” 2014.
16 Kimmel, Changing Men, 1987; Gilmore, Manhood in the Making, 1990; Bourdieu, “Masculine Domination Revisited,” 1996; Whitehead and Barrett, The Masculinities Reader, 2001; Connell, Masculinities, 2005; and Connell and Messerschmidt, “Hegemonic Masculinity,” 2005.
17 Turner, The Ritual Process, 2008; McKenzie, Perform or Else, 2001; Schechner, Performance Studies, 2006; and St. John, Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance, 2008.
18 Schechner, Performance Studies, 2006, p. 28.
19 Rap, “The Success of a Policy Model,” 2006, “Cultural Performance, Resource Flows and Passion in Politics,” 2007.
20 Hilgartner, Science on Stage, 2000.
21 Butler, Gender Trouble, 1999, pp. 178–179.
22 Interview, 5 August 2011, respondent G.
23 The group interview with women engineers in the DOI was done in English.
24 Whitehead and Barrett, The Masculinities Reader, 2001 and Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014.
25 Gupta, “Indian Women in Doctoral Education in Science and Engineering,” 2007, p. 508.
26 Mohanty, Class, Caste and Gender, 2004 and Höfer, The Caste Hierarchy and the State in Nepal, 2004.
27 Gellner et al., Nationalism and Ethnicity in Nepal, 2008, pp. 39–78 and Tamang, “Legalizing State Patriarchy in Nepal,” 2000.
28 Connell, Masculinities, 2005.
29 Oldenziel, Making Technology Masculine, 1999.
30 Chambers, “Normal Professionalism,” 1988, pp. 68–85.
31 Udas, “Gendered Water Participation in Nepal,” 2014, p. 160.
32 WECS, Maximizing the Participation of Nepali Human Resource in the Ministry of Water Resources, 1984, pp. 6–7.
33 Interview on 7 July 2010.
34 Adhikary, Women Graduates in Agriculture and Forestry Development in Nepal, 1995, p. 37; see for similar statements: WECS, Series I. Changing Role of Women in the Water and Energy Sectors, 1991, p. 24; and WECS, Study Report on Professional Development Opportunities for Women in Nepal, 1996, pp. 20–21.
35 Adhikary, Women Graduates in Agriculture and Forestry Development in Nepal, 1995, p. 37.
36 Interview, 5 August 2011, respondent D.
37 Interview on 5 August 2011, respondent B.
38 Interview, 5 August 2011, respondent D.
39 Interview, 5 August 2011, respondent B.
40 Interview, 5 August 2011, respondent F.
41 Interview, 5 August 2011, respondent B.
42 Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014, pp. 68–90; see also: Adhikary, Women Graduates in Agriculture and Forestry Development in Nepal, 1995, pp. 11–13.
43 Tamang, “Patriarchy and the Production of Homo-erotic Behavior in Nepal,” 2003, p. 250.
44 Nepal society is characterised by a Hindu caste system that originates from the hills. In this system, the Bahun (priests) and Chettri (warriors) occupy the highest tiers. They are known as the hill castes. In addition, Nepal has various ethnic groups, the Newar of the Kathmandu Valley being one of them. The Newar can be Hindu or Buddhist and they also have a caste system. For the sake of the argument, we ignore here differences within caste groups, such as among hill Bahun and among Newar Bahun caste groups.
45 Poudyal, “Dynamics of Formal and Informal Institutions Shaping the Administrative Culture,” 2009, p. 42 and 58.
46 DFID/WB, Unequal Citizens. Gender, Caste and Ethnic Exclusion in Nepal. Summary, 2006, pp. 17–18.
47 Geographically, Nepal can be divided in three zones: mountains (Himalaya), hills (up to 3000 metres) and the Tarai (plains at the foothills, stretching into India). For clarification, the Madhesi category includes both Hindu castes and a Muslim minority.
48 Regmi, A Study in Nepali Economic History, 1768–1846, 1972 and Regmi, Landownership in Nepal, 1976.
49 Oldenziel, Making Technology Masculine, 1999 and Frehill, “The Gendered Construction of the Engineering Profession in the United States, 1893–1920,” 2004.
50 Gellner et al., Nationalism and Ethnicity in Nepal, 2008, pp. 241–273.
51 Gilbert, “Women and Family Law in Modern Nepal,” 1992, p. 737.
52 Gilbert, “Legal Rights and Social Strategies,” 1993, p. 67.
53 Bennett, Dangerous Wives and Sacred Sisters, 2002, pp. viii–ix.
54 Tamang, “Patriarchy and the Production of Homo-erotic Behavior in Nepal,” 2003, p. 253.
55 Tamang, “Legalizing State Patriarchy in Nepal,” 2000, p. 127.
56 Udas, “Situational Analysis of Women Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2011, p. 126.
57 Cf. Turner, The Anthropology of Performance, 1987, The Ritual Process, 2008.
58 See for a background: Höfer, The Caste Hierarchy and the State in Nepal, 2004; Bennett, Dangerous Wives and Sacred Sisters, 2005; and Gellner et al., Nationalism and Ethnicity in Nepal, 2008.
59 Gellner et al., Nationalism and Ethnicity in Nepal, 2008.
60 Zwarteveen, “Questioning Masculinities in Water,” 2011, pp. 45–46.
61 DOI, Human Resources Assessment of DOI, 2008, p. 4.
62 Shrestha, Readings in Nepalese Public Administration, 2001, p. 3.
63 Stiller and Yadav, Planning for People, 1979, p. 91.
64 Udas, “Gendered Water Participation in Nepal,” 2014, p. 148.
65 Gilmartin, “Scientific Empire and Imperial Science,” 1994, p. 1131.
66 Zwarteveen, “Questioning Masculinities in Water,” 2011, pp. 43–45.
67 Udas, “Gendered Water Participation in Nepal,” 2014, p. 149.
68 Skerry et al., Four Decades of Development, 1992, p. 43.
69 Tamang, “Dis-embedding the Sexual/Social Contract,” 2002, p. 314.
70 Dahal, “A Review of Nepal's First Conference on Agriculture,” 1997, p. 149.
71 Cf. Tamang, “Dis-embedding the Sexual/Social Contract,” 2002, p. 315.
72 Dahal, “A Review of Nepal's First Conference on Agriculture,” 1997, p. 149 and pp. 158–159.
73 WECS, Irrigation Sector Review, 1981, p. 91 and HMG/N, Human Resources Development Study, 1989, pp. 33–37.
74 Udas and Zwarteveen, “Can Water Professionals Meet Gender Goals?,” 2010, p. 91.
75 Udas, “Gendered Water Participation in Nepal,” 2014, p. 160.
76 WECS, Irrigation Sector Review, 1981, pp. ii–iv.
77 HMG/N, Master Plan for Irrigation Development in Nepal, 1970, p. S.1.
78 HMG/N, Water Resources Development in Nepal, 1985, p. 1.
79 Guthman, “Representing Crisis,” 1997, pp. 57–58.
80 Liebrand, “Masculinities among Irrigation Engineers and Water Professionals in Nepal,” 2014, pp. 49–52.
81 Singh et al., “Cultivating ‘Success’ and ‘Failure’ in Policy,” 2014, pp. 158–159.
82 Khanal, Engineering Participation, 2003, pp. 136–137.
83 WECS, Performance Review of Public Sector Intensive Irrigation Based Agricultural Projects, 1982, p. 12.
84 HMG/N, Human Resources Development Study, 1989, pp. 57–70.
85 Theuvenet, Report to the Government of Nepal on Irrigation, 1953; UN, Multi-purpose River Basin Development, 1961; HMG/N, Master Plan for Irrigation Development in Nepal, 1970, Water the Key to Nepal's Development, 1981, Water Resources Development in Nepal, 1985; Gyawali, Water in Nepal, 2001; and Dhungel and Pun, The Nepal–India Water Relationship, 2009.
86 See, for instance, Pradhan, “Personal Reflections,” 2009, pp. 243–267.
87 SaciWaters, Situational Analysis of Women Water Professionals in South Asia, 2011.
88 Udas and Zwarteveen, “Can Water Professionals Meet Gender Goals?” 2010, pp. 91–92.
89 Oldenziel, Making Technology Masculine, 1999; Faulkner, “The Technology Question in Feminism,” 2001; Kleif and Faulkner, “I’m No Athlete [But] I Can Make This Thing Dance!” 2003; and Frehill, “The Gendered Construction of the Engineering Profession in the United States, 1893–1920,” 2004.
90 Oldenziel, Making Technology Masculine, 1999 and Frehill, “The Gendered Construction of the Engineering Profession in the United States, 1893–1920,” 2004.
91 Faulkner, “Doing Gender in Engineering Workplace Cultures,” 2009, p. 172.
92 Copies of many primary sources cited in this article are available upon request from the lead author.