Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information Epicentre to Aftermath Epicentre to Aftermath makes both empirical and conceptual contributions to the growing body of disaster studies literature by providing an analysis of a disaster aftermath that is steeped in the political and cultural complexities of its social and historical context. Drawing together scholars from a range of disciplines, this book highlights the political, historical, cultural, artistic, emotional, temporal, embodied and material dynamics at play in the earthquake aftermath. Crucially, it shows that the experience and meaning of a disaster are not given or inevitable, but are the outcome of situated human agency. The book suggests a whole new epistemology of disaster consequences and their meanings, and dramatically expands the field of knowledge relevant to understanding disasters and their outcomes. Michael Hutt is a scholar of Nepali literature and Emeritus Professor of Nepali and Himalayan Studies at SOAS, University of London. He has authored and edited fourteen books and over fifty articles and book chapters on Nepali and Himalayan topics. He co-edited, with Pratyoush Onta, Political Change and Public Culture in Post-1990 Nepal, which was published by the Press in 2017. Mark Liechty is Professor of Anthropology and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a cultural anthropologist by training and has been a student of Nepali and South Asian culture and history for more than three decades. He is the author of influential books on modern Nepal and a oundingf co-editor of the journal Studies in Nepali History and Society. Stefanie Lotter is Senior Teaching and Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS, University of London. She is currently exploring the dynamics of heritage decision making in post-conflict, post-earthquake Nepal. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information EPICENTRE TO AFTERMATH REBUILDING AND REMEMBERING IN THE WAKE OF NEPAL’S EARTHQUAKES Edited by Michael Hutt Mark Liechty Stefanie Lotter © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom One Liberty Plaza, 20th Floor, New York, NY 10006, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, vic 3207, Australia 314 to 321, 3rd Floor, Plot No.3, Splendor Forum, Jasola District Centre, New Delhi 110025, India 79 Anson Road, #06–04/06, Singapore 079906 Cambridge University Press is part of the University of Cambridge. It furthers the University’s mission by disseminating knowledge in the pursuit of education, learning and research at the highest international levels of excellence. www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781108834056 © Cambridge University Press 2021 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2021 Printed in India A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hutt, Michael (Michael J.), editor. | Liechty, Mark, 1960- editor. | Lotter, Stefanie, editor. Title: Epicentre to aftermath : rebuilding and remembering in the wake of Nepal’s earthquakes / edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter. Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021005349 (print) | LCCN 2021005350 (ebook) | ISBN 9781108834056 (hardback) | ISBN 9781108991636 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Earthquake relief--Nepal. | Nepal Earthquake, 2015 (April 25) | Earthquakes--Social aspects--Nepal. | Nepal--Social conditions--21st century. | Nepal--Politics and government--21st century. Classification: LCC HV600 2015.N35 E65 2021 (print) | LCC HV600 2015.N35 (ebook) | DDC 954.96--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005349 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005350 ISBN 978-1-108-83405-6 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information CONTENTS List of Figures ix List of Abbreviations xv PART I CONTEXTUALIZING DISASTER 1. Reconstituting Pasts and Futures: Contextual Agency in a Disaster Aftermath 3 Mark Liechty and Michael Hutt 2. Earthquakes in Nepali History 22 John Whelpton PART II REBUILDING LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS 3. Expertise, Labour, and Mobility in Nepal’s Post-conflict, Post-disaster Reconstruction: Law, Construction, and Finance as Domains of Social Transformation 49 Sara Shneiderman, Dan Hirslund, Jeevan Baniya, Philippe Le Billon, Bina Limbu, Bishnu Pandey, Katharine Rankin, Nabin Rawal, Prakash Chandra Subedi, Manoj Suji, Deepak Thapa, and Cameron Warner 4. Labour and the Humanitarian Present: Thinking through the 2015 Nepal Earthquakes 87 Shyam Kunwar, Elsie Lewison, and Katharine Rankin © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information vi Contents 5. Disaster, Deceptions, Dislocations: Reflections from an Integrated Settlement Project in Nepal 110 Jeevan Baniya 6. Humanitarian Responses of I/NGOs after the 2015 Earthquakes: Empirical Evidence from Gorkha, Sindhupalchok, and Southern Lalitpur 135 Amrita Gurung and Jeevan Baniya 7. Policies, Politics, and Practices of Landslide Risk Management in Post-earthquake Nepal: Perspectives from Above and Below 151 Katie Oven, Shubheksha Rana, Gopi K. Basyal, Nick Rosser, and Mark Kincey PART III REBUILDING STRUCTURES 8. The Politics of Participatory Disaster Governance in Nepal’s Post-earthquake Reconstruction 179 Nimesh Dhungana 9. Changing Perspectives on International Aid in Nepal since the 2015 Earthquakes 203 Shobhit Shakya 10. Reclaiming Heritage: The Politics and Poetics of Newar Urbanism 226 Sabin Ninglekhu, Patrick Daly, and Pia Hollenbach 11. Kathmandu Durbar Square: Heritage Reconstruction as a Political Process of Negotiating Ownership and Authority 253 Stefanie Lotter PART IV BUILDING MEMORY 12. Cultural Heritage Display after the 2015 Earthquakes in Nepal: The Architecture Galleries, Patan Museum 281 Katharina Weiler © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information Contents vii 13. Working on Disaster: Nepali Artists’ Engagement in Post-earthquake Kathmandu Valley 308 Christiane Brosius 14. Gathering Absences and Presences: Memory Work, Photographs, and Affective Recovery in the Langtang Valley 341 Austin Lord and Jennifer Bradley 15. Bhukampa: Nepali Recitations of an Earthquake Aftermath 367 Michael Hutt References 403 About the Contributors 445 Index 449 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org Cambridge University Press 978-1-108-83405-6 — Epicentre to Aftermath Edited by Michael Hutt, Mark Liechty, Stefanie Lotter Frontmatter More Information FIGURES 2.1 The 1934 earthquake memorial at Bhugol Park, just off New Road (Juddha Sadak) in Kathmandu. It is inscribed with the text of the speech delivered by Juddha Shamsher Rana in 1938 in which he announced that the repayment of housing reconstruction loans would be waived. 31 2.2 Map: intensity of the 21 August 1988 earthquake. 37 3.1 Research sites for our project in Nepal’s Bagmati province. 56 3.2 A private house under construction in Dattatreya Square, Bhaktapur. 61 3.3 Tawa Sattal being reconstructed by a contractor in Bhaktapur. 68 3.4 A newly constructed one-room house in Borang, Dhading district, built with the government’s housing reconstruction grant. 70 3.5 New construction in Kartike Bazaar, Sindhupalchok district. A frame structure stands next to a load-bearing house that has used rocks on the ground floor and bricks on the first. 71 3.6 Two-storeyed multi-roomed stone-masonry house built under the reconstruction programme in the Manje area, Sindhupalchok district. This house was built after the house design manuals were revised. 72 3.7 Porters carrying CGI roofing sheets to Borang, Dhading district. 74 3.8 Women masons in Borang, Dhading district, enrolled in training to build earthquake-resistant houses. 78 3.9 After the earthquake, traditional houses were replaced by concrete frame houses in Kartike Bazaar, Sindhupalchok district. 82 3.10 Ongoing reconstruction of the Vatsala Durga temple in Bhaktapur Durbar Square. 85 © in this web service Cambridge University Press www.cambridge.org