Chapter 1 Introduction: Understanding the Crisis in Nepal and State Failure Chapter 2 State Formation and Political Transition in Nepal (1768-2005) Chapter 3 Ethnicity and Politics in Nepal Chapter 4 Economic Crisis and the Lack of Performance Legitimacy Chapter 5 Maoist Insurgency and the Militarization of the Nepali Polity and Society Chapter 6 Popular Uprising 2006 Chapter 7 Problems and Prospects Chapter 8 Appendix 1: Nepal: The Fundamentals Chapter 9 Appendix 2: Memorandum from UNPF to the Prime Minister Chapter 10 Appendix 3: The Letter of Understanding Between the 7-party Coalition and the Communist Party of Nepal Chapter 11 Appendix 4: The Eight-point Agreement between SPA and the CPN (M)
Ali Riaz is professor and chair of the Department of Politics and Government at Illinois State University. Subho Basu is associate professor in the Department of History at Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.
While Nepal is the oldest nation-state in South Asia,
'nation-building' is very much a work-in-progress. In the modern
era which began in Nepal with the demise of the Rana shogunate in
1950, the country remained under an autocratic kingship till 1990.
A 12-year democratic interlude was marked by a violent Maoist
insurgency and followed by yet another royal adventure, which was
finally crushed by the People's Movement of April 2006. The task of
'nation-building' has now resumed , with the goal of restructuring
the state through a constituent assembly and a new constitution.
Any place is complex, but Nepal is perhaps less understood than
others in the South Asian neighbourhood. I believe that this work
by Ali Riaz and Subho Basu will help in the understanding of a
country that has seen the compressed political evolution over a few
years that other countries of South Asia realised over decades.
Only the analysis of Nepal as a thus-far failed state can make it a
successful one.
*Kanak Mani Dixit, editor, Himal Khabarpatrika and Himal
Southasian*
An outstanding achievement in explaining current political
developments in Nepal whilst placing them insightfully and
concisely within a historical context. A timely book which will be
an invaluable resource for those keen to learn about the origins of
Nepal's present-day dilemmas and the prospects for her future.
*Crispin Bates, University of Edinburgh*
A useful resource not only for scholars in the fields of South
Asian studies and/or Himalayan studies but should also, equally, be
of interest to political theorists.
*Indian Sociology*
Ali Riaz and Subho Basu's Paradise Lost is an informative and
engaging examination of the contemporary political crisis facing
Nepal and its historical and structural causes. One of a spate of
recently published books to examine the Maoist insurgency in Nepal,
Paradise Lost places the insurgency, and its attendant political
crises, within a broader historical narrative of state failure in
Nepal . . . Riaz and Basu's book provides a compelling account less
of state failure than of the necessity of institutional political
reform. They provide important suggestions as to what reforms the
government might want to prioritize, and they make an effective
case for the necessity of land reform in particular. Paradise Lost
, for this reason, serves as an important and timely examination of
recent Nepalese history, and of the lessons to be learned from its
recent past.
*Journal of Asian Studies*
One of the longstanding frustrations of being a 'Nepal scholar' is
that one's peers comprise almost entirely of other 'Nepal
scholars', and that those who might be capable of bringing broader
comparative or theoretical perspectives to bear on Nepali political
topics, have remained clustered around issues further south in the
subcontinent. It has also seemed to us that recent developments in
Nepal, where the world's last Hindu monarchy and the world's latest
and most successful Maoist insurgency have faced one another across
a society that cries out for a participative and egalitarian
democracy, should be of interest to more than just us. So it is
very good indeed that these two researchers have turned their
attention northward and allowed us all to benefit from their
clear-eyed and perceptive assessment of the current state of Nepal
and of the challenges that now faces that country's leaders and
people.
*Michael Hutt, University of London*
A timely analysis of Nepal’s second experiment in democratic
politics....The breadth of the analysis must surely be commended.
The authors have centred their study on the role of the state in
Nepal’s post-1990 political impasse and have successfully linked it
to other factors....The book is a pioneering attempt in the field
of Nepali Studies, combining a political science approach to the
state with a socio-historical analysis of Nepal’s developments to
explain the country’s current political situation. This makes Riaz
and Basu’s volume a precious and timely contribution to the debate
on Nepal’s political developments which will provide readers with a
number of ideas to engage and wrestle with.
*South Asia Research*
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