(Shrinking) Civic Space in Nepal

Concerns Among Indigenous People’s Organizations

Bibliographic Data

ID12116612
AuthorsUttam Uprety (Kathmandu University School of Education (KUSOED), Lalitpur, Nepal, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume47
Issue2
Pages243-260
Publication date2020-05-03
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueForum for Development Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0803-9410 • E-ISSN: 1891-1765
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/08039410.2020.1792974
OpenAlexW3042298252
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited13

Nepali civil society organizations, particularly indigenous people’s organizations, have been functional for many years. Despite representing nearly 40 per cent of the population, indigenous people in Nepal are witnessing increasing efforts by the government to shrink their civic space through restrictive legal measures. As a reaction, a section of civil society has initiated countering it through various advocacy activities. The exploratory study investigates how indigenous people’s organizations (IPOs) understand their position within Nepali civil society, explores their concerns regarding the current regulatory changes, and contextualizes these relationships within a broader trend of shrinking civic space. Based on cases of four IPOs, the worldviews of these indigenous organizations are contrasted with more conventional CSOs in Nepal. Major differences include: (a) lack of customary practices in proposed Common Law, (b) limited voice and participation of indigenous people in public consultation processes, (c) lack of recognition of the specificities of IPOs, (d) overt formalization of CSOs in terms of registration, and (e) politicization of civil society that is detrimental to IPOs

Business · Civil society · Economic growth · Economics · Government (linguistics · Indigenous · Nepali · Political science · Politics · Population · Position (finance · Resizing · Sociology · Human Rights and Development · Law · Peacebuilding and International Security · Public Administration · Sociopolitical Dynamics in Nepal · Finance

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