Balaz-Munn Courtney 201911 MA Thesis.Pdf
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Rendering Reconciliation and Reconstruction Technical: Engineering, the Rule of Law, and Depoliticizing Effects on Disaster Recovery and Transitional Justice in Nepal by Courtney Balaz-Munn A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Department of Geography and Planning University of Toronto © Copyright by Courtney Balaz-Munn 2019 Rendering Reconciliation and Reconstruction Technical: Engineering, the Rule of Law, and Depoliticizing Effects on Disaster Recovery and Transitional Justice in Nepal Courtney Balaz-Munn Master of Arts Department of Geography and Planning University of Toronto 2019 Abstract The year 2015 saw the convergence of several nationally significant events in Nepal, including the formation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), two devastating earthquakes, and the creation of a National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) to coordinate post-earthquake reconstruction. In this thesis, I discuss reconciliation and reconstruction as they are conceptualized through Nepal’s TRC and NRA, respectively. Drawing on data from qualitative interviews and document analysis, I consider how discourses of development and national unity are embedded in state projects of reconstruction and reconciliation and what sorts of knowledge and expertise are prioritized in these processes. Using a critical development framework, I argue that by narrowly focussing on specialized domains of engineering and law, respectively, the NRA’s housing grant program and the TRC’s reconciliation processes are rendered technical and enact individualized, depoliticized, “development”-oriented approaches that leave intact ongoing structural violence, national exclusion, and inequalities. ii Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who was generous enough to share their time and insights with me in an interview. Thank you for sharing your experiences, knowledge, passion, and critiques, without which this thesis would not have been possible. I am also grateful to Aayush Chitrakar for his outstanding work as a research assistant during fieldwork and for his translation services in Kathmandu. I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Katharine Rankin, for her guidance and support throughout the research process. I am also grateful to her for involving me in her own research project and inviting me to sit in on research meetings and workshops, experiences that helped deepen my comprehension of research methodology. Similarly, I am grateful to Prof. Sara Shneiderman for welcoming my involvement with her project activities during my time in Nepal. My experiences with these two projects shaped my understanding of the politics and practice of social science research in Nepal and provided valuable insight into the logistical and ethical realities of fieldwork. I would also like to thank my two committee members, Prof. Sharlene Mollett and Prof. Ryan Isakson, for their thoughtful engagement with this thesis and my past work. Thank you also to Anar Basnet for her care and patience in teaching me Nepali and sharing many fascinating anecdotes with me. Thank you to Pushpa Hamal for additional translation work in Toronto. I would also like to express my appreciation to everyone I spent time with in Nepal on a personal or professional level: for your help with fieldwork logistics, your stimulating conversation, and your warm camaraderie, thank you. Last but not least, thank you to my family and friends for each of your specific forms of support throughout my grad school experience. This thesis was also supported by funding provided by the University of Toronto Department of Geography and Planning and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship. iii Table of Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... iv List of Acronyms .......................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Overview of Research ......................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Points of Comparison between Reconstruction and Reconciliation ................................... 5 1.3 Organization of Thesis ........................................................................................................ 7 Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Development as Discourse .................................................................................................. 8 2.2 Projects, Practices, Processes, and Positionings ............................................................... 14 Conceptual Approaches to and International Frameworks for Reconciliation and Reconstruction .......................................................................................................................... 17 3.1 Reconciliation ................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Reconstruction .................................................................................................................. 28 3.3 Nexus of Development, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation ........................................... 42 Nepal: Current and Historical Context ..................................................................................... 44 4.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 44 4.2 Development and Exclusionary Nation-building .............................................................. 44 4.3 Conflict and Post-Conflict ................................................................................................ 47 4.4 Transitional Justice and Truth and Reconciliation Commission ...................................... 48 4.5 2015 Earthquakes and Aftermath ...................................................................................... 49 4.6 Synthesis ........................................................................................................................... 52 Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 53 5.1 Project Affiliation ............................................................................................................. 53 5.2 Gathering Data .................................................................................................................. 53 iv 5.3 Analyzing and Interpreting Data ....................................................................................... 60 5.4 Issues of Power, Representation, and Positionality .......................................................... 63 Reconciliation Rendered Technical ......................................................................................... 65 6.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 65 6.2 The Politics of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission ............................................... 66 6.3 Reconciliation as Antagonistic to Truth and Justice ......................................................... 66 6.4 Rendering Reconciliation Technical ................................................................................. 69 6.5 Any Future for Reconciliation? ........................................................................................ 81 6.6 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 83 Reconstruction Rendered Technical ........................................................................................ 86 7.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 86 7.2 An “Opportunity” for Development ................................................................................. 87 7.3 Scientific Expertise and “Awareness” .............................................................................. 92 7.4 Vulnerability ..................................................................................................................... 97 7.5 Tensions and Contestation in Discourse ......................................................................... 102 7.6 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 109 Discussion: Discourse, Politics, and Expertise ...................................................................... 112 8.1 Rendering Reconstruction and Reconciliation Technical ............................................... 112 8.2 Discourse, Power, and Knowledge ................................................................................. 114 8.3 The Continuing Politicization of Reconciliation and Reconstruction ............................ 115 8.4 Trust ...............................................................................................................................