Florida International University FIU Digital Commons FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations University Graduate School 6-29-2018 Cultural Politics of Community-Based Conservation in the Buffer Zone of Chitwan National Park, Nepal Yogesh Dongol [email protected] DOI: 10.25148/etd.FIDC006860 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Studies Commons, Human Geography Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, Nature and Society Relations Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Dongol, Yogesh, "Cultural Politics of Community-Based Conservation in the Buffer Zone of Chitwan National Park, Nepal" (2018). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3775. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3775 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University Graduate School at FIU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of FIU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY Miami, Florida CULTURAL POLITICS OF COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION IN THE BUFFER ZONE OF CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK, NEPAL A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in GLOBAL AND SOCIOCULTURAL STUDIES by Yogesh Dongol 2018 To: Dean John F. Stack, Jr. Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs This dissertation, written by Yogesh Dongol, and entitled Cultural Politics of Community-Based Conservation in the Buffer Zone of Chitwan National Park, Nepal, having been approved in respect to style and intellectual content, is referred to you for judgement. We have read this dissertation and recommend that it be approved. _________________________________ Gail Hollander _________________________________ Joel Heinen _________________________________ Juliet Erazo _________________________________ Roderick Neumann, Major Professor Date of Defense: June 29, 2018 The dissertation of Yogesh Dongol is approved. _______________________________ Dean John F. Stack, Jr. Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs _______________________________ Andrés G. Gil Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Dean of the University Graduate School Florida International University, 2018 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS At Sauraha, I thank Sanichara Mahato and family for their hospitality and help in sharing information about local politics. Gokarna dai (Gokarna Khanal) initially helped me to connect with many people of the Bagmara CF area. I thank Thagu dai (Tek Bahadur Gurung) and Bali dai (Balaram Chaudary), both expert nature guides, for sharing information about conservation, tourism, and nature guiding. I also thank the Bagmara buffer zone community forest and Migrakunja buffer zone user’s committees for their help and support. At Kathmandu, I thank Anil KC, Sunil Thapa, Dhan Shrestha, Anuj Pradhan and Ujjol Gurung for help and company there. I thank Dr. Pitambar Sharma of the Resources Himalaya Foundation for the helpful suggestions related to the research. In the USA, I would like to thank my dissertation committee members Dr. Gail Hollander, Dr. Juliet Erazo, Dr. Joel Heinen, and Dr. Roderick Neumann. I would also like to thank the Global and Sociocultural Studies Department for teaching assistantships during my Ph.D. work. I am lucky to have a great advisor and supportive department. I also received financial help from NSF-DDRI, the Wenner-Gren Foundation and a DEA Fellowship from FIU to complete my dissertation research. I am grateful to all of these institutions for their support. iii ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION CULTURAL POLITICS OF COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION IN THE BUFFER ZONE OF CHITWAN NATIONAL PARK, NEPAL. by Yogesh Dongol Florida International University, 2018 Miami, Florida Professor Roderick Neumann, Major Professor The dissertation research examines the socio-economic and political effects of community-based conservation initiatives within the Bagmara buffer zone community forests of Chitwan National Park, Nepal. In particular, the study investigates the role of buffer zones creation in structuring the way rural property rights have been defined, negotiated, and contested, in reinforcing or reducing patterns of ethnic dominance and exclusion, and in influencing how cultural identities are constituted and renegotiated. Using a political ecology framework with a specific focus on theoretical concepts of environmentality and territorialization, I conducted 12 months ethnographic and quantitative survey field research in the buffer zone communities of Chitwan National Park. I focused on documenting socioeconomic conditions and livelihood practices, and interpreting the meanings of residents’ lived experiences. In addition, I critically examined state and non-state conservation and development practices to understand how they work to produce identities, livelihoods, and landscapes in the park’s buffer zone. iv The ethnographic study documented diverse impacts of community-based conservation initiatives. One of the major effects is the distribution of costs and benefits, specifically elite capture of community forest and tourism benefits. Second is the existing conflict and potential conflict over the control of access, benefits, and territory based on social and cultural identities. Third is the reproduction of caste, ethnic, and class hierarchies. Fourth is the militarization of communities in and around the buffer zone and community forest. Fifth is the production of environmental and non-environmental subjects such as illegals and poachers. Finally, the sixth is the commodification of conservation spaces and subsequent ecological impacts. The research concludes that the discursive representation of humans and non-humans and the discourses and practices of economic development and biodiversity conservation produced and reproduced a number of negative social, political, and ecological consequences in the buffer zone of CNP. This dissertation concluded that the conservation and development practices are territorial projects to govern people and nature. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE Chapter One: Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 1.1. Becoming a political ecologist ............................................................................. 4 1.2. Study site, research methods, and positionality ................................................... 8 1.2.1. Study area .......................................................................................................... 8 1.2.2. Research design and methods .......................................................................... 12 1.2.3. Negotiating my role and positionality ............................................................. 29 1.3. Summary of dissertation chapters .......................................................................... 33 Chapter Two: Theoretical Framework .............................................................................. 36 2.1. Environmentality and territorialization .................................................................. 36 2.2. Political-ecological effects of CBC ........................................................................ 39 2.2.1. Property and access ......................................................................................... 42 2.2.2. The state and property rights ........................................................................... 45 2.2.3. Territorialization, violence, and repression ..................................................... 47 2.2.4. Scientific and local knowledge ........................................................................ 52 2.2.5. Property rights under capitalism ...................................................................... 54 2.2.6. Local rights ...................................................................................................... 62 2.3. Discourse and subject formation in CBC ............................................................... 69 2.3.1. Scientific knowledge and crisis narratives ...................................................... 71 2.3.2 Regulatory knowledge and subject formation .................................................. 73 2.3.3. Regulatory rules and subject formation in CBC .............................................. 77 2.4 Conclusion ............................................................................................................... 84 Chapter Three: Socioeconomic and political history of Nepal ......................................... 86 3.1. Socioeconomic and Political History of Nepal before 1950 .................................. 86 3.1.1. The Rana regime and semi-colonial relationships ........................................... 87 3.1.2. Kipat, communal land ...................................................................................... 94 3.1.3. Invisible Tarai land and the people of Tarai .................................................... 99 3.1.4. The Jamindari system .................................................................................... 101 3.2. Socioeconomic and political history of Nepal, 1950-1990 .................................. 103 3.2.1. Nepali Nationalism and the nation building .................................................. 107 3.2.2. Planned development, land reform ...............................................................