HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies Volume 37 Number 1 Article 22 June 2017 The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal & the Himalaya Swatahsiddha Sarkar University of North Bengal Babika Khawas University of North Bengal Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya Recommended Citation Sarkar, Swatahsiddha and Khawas, Babika. 2017. The Annual Kathmandu Conference on Nepal & the Himalaya. HIMALAYA 37(1). Available at: https://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/himalaya/vol37/iss1/22 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. This Conference Report is brought to you for free and open access by the DigitalCommons@Macalester College at DigitalCommons@Macalester College. It has been accepted for inclusion in HIMALAYA, the Journal of the Association for Nepal and Himalayan Studies by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Macalester College. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Conference Reports The Annual Kathmandu Conference the nation, and nationalism strategy to provide crucial means on Nepal & the Himalaya presented in two separate panels. for rural livelihood in the form of Ajapa Sharma (Jawaharlal Nehru internal remittance to the migrants’ Lazimpat, Nepal University) spoke on the conflation families. In the second presentation, of nation and gender in the works Ang Sanu Lama and her team from 27–29 July 2016 of three legendary literary figures the SSB drew on fieldwork in three of Nepal: Bal Krishna Sama, Laxmi districts of Nepal to highlight The fifth Annual Kathmandu Prasad Devkota and B.P Koirala. the effect of migration on male Conference on Nepal and the Balram Uprety (St. Joseph’s College, members of the local community Himalaya took place on 27–29 Darjeeling) examined the patriarchal that effectively secured women’s role July 2016 at the Hotel Shankar historiography of the nation and in local forest governance through in Lazimpat, Kathmandu, Nepal. its subsequent contestations and Community Forest Users Groups. Organized by the Social Science problematization using the folk Neha Chowdhary (independent Baha (SSB) in association with the corpus of Nepali Teej songs. Lokranjan researcher) with Bandita Sijapati and Britain-Nepal Academic Council Parajuly (Martin Chautari) offered Jeevan Baniya from the SSB discussed (BNAC), Centre for Himalayan Studies critical reflections on the intersection the migration abroad of Nepali health (CNRS), Association for Nepal and of caste, class, gender, nation, and professionals to highlight patterns of Himalayan Studies (ANHS), and revolution as evinced in the writings outmigration and its consequences Nepal Academic Network (NAN, of Muktinath Timsina’s realist on Nepal’s already identified shortage Japan), the conference brought revolutionary social stories. Shifting of health workers. Rashmi Upadhay’s together more than eighty eminent the focus to language and folk (NEHU, Shillong) ethnographic scholars, researchers, activists, and literature in the Darjeeling-Sikkim account of Nepali migrant workers media persons from Europe, the Himalaya, Swatahsiddha Sarkar in the coalmines of Meghalaya, United States, Australia, Canada, (North Bengal University) analyzed India focused on return migration Japan, India, and Nepal for three the link between language and the and emphasized the predicament days of presentations, discussions, politics of belonging, and their of being a migrant in a foreign land. and debates. Presentations focused evolution in the region. Ramji Prasad Adhikari and Rishikesh on pressing concerns for Nepal Pandey (Pokhara University) made and the Himalayan region, such as A third panel focused on migration a presentation on the significance language, literature, the nation and studies and the effects of migration of gender analysis in migration nationalism, disaster, development, on different sectors of Nepal. In research. Studying women who political movements and conflict, the first presentation, Bandana migrated to Gulf countries from the Nepal’s new constitution, migration, Sijapati, Sambriddhi Kharel, and Pokhara valley, they highlighted the remittance and recruitment, health Anish Bhandari from the SSB, livelihood contribution of Nepali care and mental health, and gender. Nepal discussed the rural to urban women labor migrants and assessed The conference opened with brief internal migration resulting the exploitation involved in the introductory remarks by Nirmal Man from urbanization processes. migration process. While women Tuladhar (SSB) and Katsuo Nawa Their findings suggested that the labor migration to Gulf countries is (NAN, Japan). urbanization-led construction considered to be a matter of pride, industry was largely filled by There were four papers on the especially in view of their remittance migrant workers; such processes theme of language, literature, contributions, migrant women have of internal migration might be a HIMALAYA Volume 37, Number 1 | 141 to face a lot of personal sufferings predict may eventually lead to the of Tibetan medicine in Nepal face and constraints that neither the creation of rural inequality. Claire due to the state’s non-recognition family/community nor even the state Martinus (UMONS-ESHS), Dawa for traditional health care practices. policies ever acknowledge. Noah Tshering Sherpa, and Soni Khanal He emphasized the need for state Coburn (Bennington College) and (both independent researchers) intervention in creating a space to Dawa Tshering Sherpa’s (independent discussed the life of the urban masses modernize Tibetan medicine, given researcher) presentation focused after the 2015 earthquakes. Sherpa its potential foreign clientele and on the impact of British Army and Khanal presented narratives the benefits for its stakeholders. recruitment in the socio-economic of street children’s everyday lives Shiva Raj Adhikari’s (Tribhuvan life of young Nepalis. They showed as the backdrop of the disaster University) presentation focused on how the craze for enlistment among following the 2015 earthquakes, while health care financing to show how Nepali youth still looms large while Martinus discussed the appropriation the process called out-of-pocket and the recruitment in British Army of public space in Kathmandu after the extravagant cost of health care in is in decline. the earthquakes. Rishikesh Pandey’s Nepal adversely impacts the quality (Pokhara University) presentation of life among the poor and leads to There were several papers that focused on the contemporary further impoverishment. highlighted social issues and concerns environmental concerns in the regarding Nepal’s post disaster A group of scholars from Nepal’s Trans-Himalayan region and the predicament and environmental universities and abroad presented adaptation of the local people to the concerns. Leah James (University on the theme of development in changing climatic conditions leading of Colorado), Courtney W. Mitchell relation to global funding agencies in to a complex dynamics between (University of Denver), Shree Niwas Nepal. Kalyan Bhandari (University humans and the environment. Khanal (Transcultural Psychosocial of Scotland) drew attention to Organization, Nepal), and Alexander One panel was dedicated to the the question of international James (The State University application of social science research development agencies and their of New York at Binghamton) methods in mental health research role in Nepal’s tourism policy. presented on NGO involvement in and practice in Nepal. A group of Kapil Dahal (Tribhuvan University), addressing mental health issues eleven researchers who conducted Ian Harper (Edinburg University), of disaster-affected (2015 Nepal their research in various places in Sushil Baral (Health Research and earthquakes) Nepalese, focusing Nepal showed the ways of dealing Social Development) and Rekha specifically on their successful use with mental health care across the Khatri (independent researcher) of culturally adapted interventions. country in three presentations. presented on how the outcome-based Andrew Haxby (University of These papers examined the problems approach as adopted by a global Michigan) focused on the problems and prospects of mental health agency (GFATM) has influenced and paradoxes of transparency in from the experiences of different the engagement of the different Nepal’s reconstruction programs communities of Nepal. Another institutional entities in areas of after the 2015 earthquakes. Jessica presentation by Ruja Pokhrel and health sector development in Nepal. DiCarlo and Katie Epstein from the team from Nepal’s Transcultural Their findings showed how this University of California, Berkeley Psychosocial Organization discussed outcome-based achievement-oriented and Bikash Adhikari (Forest Action, the mental health system across approach led the stakeholders of Nepal) studied the transition of Nepal from the perspective of Nepal’s health sector to become labor in the disaster affected areas policy formulation and governance target-oriented instead of meeting where farmers are shifting to and made recommendations for the broader concerns of health in a market-oriented crop production like further improvements in this country like Nepal. Radha Adhikari cardamom. They noted the prospects regard. Another two presentations (Edinburg University) and Obindra of the transition from a subsistence painted a general picture of Bahadur Chand (SSB) scrutinized the