Between Vishnu and Mao Zedong: The Maoist Movement in Multi-ethnic Nepal
Keywords:
Nepal, maoism, South Asia, people’s war, ethnic relations, social inequalityAbstract
This article attempts to explain the circumstances that led to a Maoist movement’s success in gaining public support in the world’s only Hindu state. A “people’s war” lasting more than a decade waged by the movement led to the end of two and a half centuries of monarchical rule. How was it possible to instil the idea of class struggle in a society in which there was no working class? Such questions are part of a wider debate about the feasibility of transplanting political categories that were created in Europe (Maoism derives from Marxist-Leninism) to other cultures, and the processes by which they can be adapted to local contexts. In the case of Nepal, an important role was played by the complex ethnic relations in the country, and the social inequalities resulting from these, which the Maoists skilfully exploited
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