National Identity Crisis!!!

National Identity Crisis in the Third World

Particularly in Nepal

Causes and effects on Governance and Development

Paruj Acharya

Professor: Dr. Deb White

Sociology Senior Seminar

Minnesota State University, Moorhead (MSUM)

May 10^th, 2010

National Identity Crisis

Abstract

Third world countries in general lack inclusive and representative governments. Usually having displaced an older establishment of monarchy, colonialism or some other form of exploiting regime, these countries remain wary of governments that follow. Multi-party politics target and recruit from specific groups of an already divided population. The existing divide deepens as each party emphasizes their own respective interests while neglecting to acknowledge National Interests. So instead, people search for identities based on socio-economic class, ethnicity, religion, demography, being the historical oppressor or the historically oppressed, etc., but not on a collective national one. Democracy produces desirable outcomes only after certain criteria are met: A united population that has transcended petty differences, has acquired national identity specifying common interests and is properly represented in a government that is considered legitimate and reliable where people are willing to accept and implement policies once they are passed even if they disagree with its contents, for the sake of National Interests. These precursors help to prevent infestation from political parties that are driven by self-interest by relying on the people’s solidarity. Similarly, the danger of cyclical stalemates that has potential to emerge among rival parties is thwarted through legitimizing government decisions as final, and enforcing it by the people’s National Interests. Lastly, when people feel well represented by their governments, political participation separate from narrow party affiliations increases. In other words, the government can truly be “for the people, by the people”, and not just status, power-and certainly not inherited rights for those who hold on to the demented idea of entitlement because it runs in their blood. On the other hand, Democracy without fundamental conditions that make it ‘work’ is just another word for Anarchy. On it’s own it acts as a catalyst for reinforced division, which ultimately begets conflict, bloody conflict. Thus the need for political stability precedes democracy. The objective of this paper is not to devalue “democracy” but rather to figure out favorable conditions within which it flourishes. This will be a literature review on scholarly articles related to Urbanization, trends of migration that create revolutionary groups, under-representation in the government and social instability that lead to the loss of National Identity.. Each concept discussed will then be infused with factual information from Nepal, which pertains to the concept. This is a very important issue because even many years after democratization, many third world countries often find themselves in worse conditions than they started with.

One of the major problems affecting development in Third World countries apart from the failure of governments to adapt to rapid changes occurring in society is the lack of unity among its people. The dual processes of modernization and urbanization are important factors that accompany countries transitioning from an authoritarian to a democratic form of government. This is marked by a major influx of people from villages into the cities. The switch from relatively traditional and self-sufficient village life to that of life in the interdependent networks of a city brings about many changes in peoples perceptions, priorities and immediate realities. Easier access to education and media creates greater awareness, proximity to people hailing from different socio-economic classes unveil inequalities and when these two are combined the question of “Why them, and not me?” inevitably arises.

Democracy presumes that the government is already well established and that the people see it as a legitimate body of authority. Furthermore, it presumes that the people are in unison to what they expect from the government. However, that is not the case in most Third World countries. Usually, the people are divided amongst themselves in their ideologies, priorities, ethnicities, religions and so forth. They do not accept a central body of government as their common representative. In most cases, these countries have recently overthrown a subjugating government, colonial power or monarchy. The people at large remain distrustful and resentful of any sort power that comes in to take their place. In a democracy people are encouraged to disagree with one another, to fight for their views no matter how minor or major they might be. But in order for democracy to work, people are required to have had their petty differences already resolved and to be focused on the larger workings of the government and nation. That is not the case in Third World countries. In the name of democracy, people become more intolerant of each other, and contrary to its purpose, premature democracy fuels further division. A direct result of this is the alienation of a large number of individuals. In the absence of a government that the people take to be legitimate, that is capable of representing all their voices and mediating their differences, people will start to settle things in their ways, which usually tends to be violent and recurring.

Theory

Symbolic Interactionism and changing identities

A very important factor that should be considered while studying the effectiveness of a government is its ability to accept and adapt to the changing identities of it’s people. The symbolic internationalist perspective serves as a crucial tool by which we can understand people and their continuously changing identities. Charon (2010) says that when people are put into social situations they communicate, interpret and adjust according to the others around them and thus construct their identities accordingly. However, these adjustments are specific to space and time. In other words, our identities, the way we interpret and communicate things are contextual to where we are and at what time. Thus, identities are more fluid like in nature rather than fixed, and are subject to change with time, environment and circumstance. Similarly, this perspective can explain the changing realities of people moving from villages into cities. The immediate realities of village life such as self-sufficiency (farming), relying on traditional bodies of authority (elders/priests), and strong social and family ties are responsible for shaping people’s identities, interpretations and priorities while they lived in their villages. After moving to the city however, they are required to adjust their identities, interpretations and priorities according to the immediate realities of city life instead. Self-sufficiency is replaced by consumer interdependence, traditional bodies of authority that could have been anything from elders, chiefs to oracles by a centralized government, and similarly their traditional social ties based on familiarity are replaced by hierarchical non-personal relationships within the work place or society in general. This creates a new class of people whose identities; perspectives and realities are different from those who have lived their whole lives in either the villages or the cities. The sheer number of these people is so high that the failure to represent them in a government and successfully address their needs would be catastrophic to the efficient functioning of the state and would impede development. While in the past identities have been limited to individuals, growing issues of national movements has created a need for more in depth studies of collective identities. (Cerulo, 1997).

Urbanization and Conflict

Massive migration into cities works towards creating a heterogeneous society with people hailing from different ethnic, religious and socio-economic groups. People take advantage of better education systems in the cities and become aware of their position in the social hierarchy. They begin to question their respective standings in society and in the work force. They become aware of the inequalities and strive for reform. However, this is contrary to the interests of people who are at a higher step in the socio-economic ladder and hold more power. Therefore, a class struggle erupts where the marginalized struggle for equality and the better off try to maintain the status quo. Huntington (1993) points out that urbanization along with education, exposure to mass media and consumer products creates a more politically aware and mobilized society that make bigger demands on the government. However, because the political structures in Third World countries are usually still in their infancy, they are less efficient and less effective while dealing with and addressing the tidal wave of demands being made by a very divided populace. They usually fail to address a majority of demands and resolve a majority of differences. When disputes cannot be settled peacefully through government mediation, people tend to take things into their own hands. More often than not, their resolve tactics turn violent and act as further discordant forces among the people. Thus, most political and social planning and discourse are brought to a halt and all resources and energy are directed towards thwarting the threat of civil unrest. The creation of a National Identity that is crucial for development fails, and further division among the population occurs.

Modernization Theory vs. Traditional values

For a considerable amount of time it was thought that the best model for third world development would be the same model through which western industrialized countries developed. Handelman (2009) says that modernization theorists insisted that Third World countries adapt similar methods of political and economic modernization to that of the Western Industrialized countries. The first step towards development was considered to be the acquirement of modern cultural values in place of the traditional, which was then followed by the creation of political and social institutions based on these modern values. He goes on to argue that at its worse, this approach claimed that the political and economic practices based on traditional values were inferior compared to those based on the modern values. Indirectly this implied that the Third World was inferior to the Industrialized countries and should therefore leave their old ways and become like the West. Many Third World intellectuals resisted this model. Handelman (2009) quotes Kalman H. Silvert a prominent Latin American Scholar from the United States on the question of implied Third world inferiority:

“There is something in the quality of Latin American… culture which has made it difficult… to be truly modern… which has made this part of the Western world so prone to excesses of scoundrels, so politically irrational in seeking economic growth, and so ready to reach for gimmicks.”

The underlying question then, is how is it that traditional values become modern? Is it even possible to replace one for the other? It was argued that Urbanization would create education and thus make the population discard its traditional values and embrace the modern; however that is not the case. Although their values may become more modern, they still grow from traditional roots. The Japanese, for example claim that their Shinto religion works towards reinforcing them to work harder in their businesses but at the same time strive for the betterment of everyone. No one can argue that the Japanese aren’t modern. However, their modernity is established on traditional ecumenical values that make it more desirable for them.

Because of its ethnocentric inclination Third World intellectuals are divided on whether to use such a model and are doubtful if it would work at all. In response to the shortcomings of the “modernization” theory the conflict theory gained prominence. The shifting loyalties from the old to the new that occur during the process of modernization create alienation and anomie. Samuel Huntington (1996) argues that the old values get undermined before “new skills, motivations, and resources can be brought into existence to create new groupings” He goes on to say that Marx focused on only one aspect of modernization, Industrialization, when he established that Industrialization creates class-consciousness, first among the bourgeoisie and then within the proletariat. However, Huntington argues that modernization n the other hand not only creates class-consciousness but all sorts of new group consciousness, whether it is “tribe, clan, religion, and caste, as well as in class, occupation, and association.” Thus modernization works towards creating more divisions among the different groups that exist in society. So groups will fight amongst themselves for resources, representation and interests rather than work towards reconciling differences and pursue national interests. Huntington suggests that before we set out to achieve democracy or modernization, political stability is necessary, even if it means establishing an authoritarian government temporarily. He argues that without stability, the peoples differences would snowball into an irreconcilable conflict that would hamper any steps taken towards development.

Social Mobilization and Instability

According to Samuel Huntington (1996) Social mobility increases with awareness, education and media exposure. All of these factors help enhance the aspirations and expectations of the people. When these aspirations or expectations are not met, the people are mobilized into politics asserting their demands. Strong, responsive and adaptable political institutions are required in order to meet the demands of the public. Generally, such established institutions are lacking in Third World countries. As a result, the numerous groups in society that have recently gained self awareness quickly become unsatisfied and highly critical of the existing government and work towards overthrowing it and replacing it with their own. Thus, a viscous cycle of different groups trying to come to power arises that is very disruptive to the stability of the country. “The faster the enlightenment of the population, the more frequent the overthrow of the government” (Huntington 1996:47). The problem here lies in the fact that an educated and aware population needs satisfying and well paying jobs. If they remain unemployed they become insurgent and enter into the political arena as de-stabilizing agents questioning the legitimacy and effectiveness of government. In order to solve this problem it is necessary for third world countries to shift their priority from educating their public to creating industries first. In doing so there will be plenty of jobs available for the educated youth, where they can successfully utilize what they have learnt and not enter politics as radical forces.

The National Identity Crisis in Nepal

The territory we now know as Nepal existed as numerous fragmented kingdoms prior to their unification by King Prithivi Narayan Shah in 1769 AD. After the unification, the entire population that could be divided into 4 castes and 36 different ethnicities were brought together not under a “national identity” of being Nepali, but of being Hindu. Indigenous “nature worshippers” as well as non-Hindus were persuaded to convert for protection and title given the Shah conqueror. As a result of accepting the Hindu religion, the caste system also became a legitimate social hierarchy (Levine, 1987). Nepal until recent was a complete feudalistic society and we can still feel its reverberations in aspects of Nepali life (Khadka, 1986). However in the past, subordination and exploitation of the peasantry was legitimized through the caste system as was the privilege and power of the elites. The Rana regime, a highly centralized autocracy displaced the monarch to a mere figure head and imposed itself through a series of hereditary prime ministers. It is a well-known fact that education was completely banned for commoners during this period of time. People however started fleeing the country and getting educated abroad. These alienated groups of educated youth joined forces with the displaced King and were capable of overthrowing the Ranas. (Khadka, 1993)

Nepal right now is going through tremendous turmoil. The forces of Urbanization and Modernization have saturated the cities with hordes of frustrated unemployed but educated youths. Political factions have been dis-uniting the illiterate populations by blaming the “other” for their misery. Old divisions prior to the unification are being made again and all the anger is directed to those who retained privilege throughout history. Let us now examine the relationships between patterns of urbanization, trends in migration, lack of representation in the government and social instability with national identity.

Urbanization and the rural poor becoming radicalized

Although it is obvious that cities play a most dominant role in the global economy as centers of production and consumption, rapid urban growth in third world nations is increasingly reducing the capacity of most cities to provide adequate services for their citizens. According to Cohen (2005), over the next 30 years, virtually all of the world's population growth is expected to be concentrated in urban areas in the developing world. While the trends of urbanization are similar to what happened in the west about a hundred years ago, they seem to never stop in developing countries. This trend has never been seen before in history. (Kasarda, Crenshaw, 1991). Let us first try to shed some light on the particular pattern of urbanization that has taken place in Nepal, the reasons behind it and its affect on National Identity, which has a direct relationship to government stability and hence, development. Nepal is and has been primarily an agriculture-based country. Roberts (1989) suggests that two variables play a crucial role in shaping the kind of urbanization a country goes through. One depends on the ability of the state to centralize and, at the same time, properly administer its outward and regional territories. The other depends on the amount of pressure it receives from its working and middle-class population. For example, regional forces have been predominantly more dominant in most Latin-American countries compared to the regional and tribal populations of South-East Asian countries like Nepal where the central government and the elite are the main powerhouses of the country. Instead of infrastructures and industries being built to support the needs of the rural population, the central governments just go along with the interests of the city elite by usually mimicking whatever more developed neighboring countries such as India or China suggest. Thus, most of the policy choices incorporated by the Nepali government is contrary to the interests of the rural Nepali populations but in the interest of the elite few and foreign countries. This results in the rural populations lacking proper infrastructure and help to efficiently practice their agriculture. In the absence of assistance they are required to work on their fields with inefficient and outdated tools that are not capable to profitable output. This has resulted in rapid and uncontrolled urbanization. However, in the cities there have been very low rates of industrialization. This leads to a great unemployment rate among the former peasants who migrated into the cities. They try to reach the same goals urban dwellers have but usually fail to do so as they have a disadvantage of not having an established community, resources and knowledge to do so. Thus they fail at “Urbanism” (Anderson, 1959) that accompanies urbanization. ” They become increasingly dissatisfied and desperate. They then search for an identity that is separate from the Nation one. They become agitated and most often join radical groups that promote violence. The Young Communist League (YCL) of Nepal, which is a branch of the Maoist party, forces the general public to make donations or support their causes by terrorizing them. Apart from a few high ranking officials of the YCL, most of the members are rural, unemployed youth who are basically just trying to make ends meet.

Changes in Trends of Migration and the creation Revolutionary Groups

An important aspect of modernization is the changing pattern of migration itself. As the scenario of a nation evolves towards urbanization and industrialization, the reasons for migration also change (Kasarda, Crenshaw, 1991). They tend to be associated to a more global goal, something similar to the “American Dream”. Citizens residing in rural parts move into urban areas for better opportunities and so forth. However, people from the cities do not usually migrate to villages for a more primitive life. Instead, they try to migrate to a more developed or industrialized country for better opportunities, education, etc. Tsutsui (2004) suggests that the relative cheapening of transportation and the improvement of communication influences these tendencies. People have a better access to both international and national job opportunities. A few examples of this phenomenon are the huge immigration of Latin American citizens into the United States, and the annual deployment of Nepali troops (better known as the ‘Gurkhas’) into the Britain Army, numerous Nepali citizens going to war torn countries such as Iraq to work for manpower agencies, etc. While its not that the entire skilled populations of developing countries migrate to different countries, a significant number do and their absence can be felt. The lack of good leaders, entrepreneurs and industrialists results in almost nothing being produced within the country itself. Even the simplest necessities have to be imported from other countries. This creates a huge economic strain on the poor, which could be prevented if they had access to cheaper products produced within the country (Hayes, 1975). The poor become increasingly frustrated with the governments indifference towards their plights and turn violent (Joshi and Mason, 2007). This leads to a lot of the educated, middle class people who would have made better contributions to society to move to different countries for the sake of safety and better opportunities. This brain drain not only creates an inefficient labor force, but it also creates a huge political vacuum. Most of the people who enter politics aren’t really people who know the needs and strategies for development. They are just radicals that have gathered support from years of protests and going against the government. Once they come to power they don’t know how to govern, they just know how to fight off those who compete for that power. This just makes things worse. The rebellious and anti-social components of the society tend to flourish when they have an uneducated and politically frustrated mass to brainwash (Shrestha, 1989). It gets easier for them to act against the ruling system. While they might not be able to flourish in the cities initially, they have ample space to grow and strengthen in the abandoned villages. Overwhelming poverty and massive socio-economic inequalities serves as a breeding ground for communism. (Khadka, 1995) This was how the Maoist movement was born in Nepal. This creates a rift in the identities of the people. They are not Nepalis anymore. They are political affiliations instead. They are villagers or city dwellers. And everybody ends up competing for the limited resources and power only for their own interests.

Lack of Political Representation and Participation: Conflict

Political representation and participation is a crucial element that ensures democratic governance. Many times the governments of developing countries are burdened by too many responsibilities to properly represent people hailing from different socio-economic, cultural and ideological backgrounds. This only creates fragmented identities that strive for individual interests. If the citizenry were united and had effective communication with one another, they would be able to successfully enter into the political sphere as constructive agents. They would be able to stand up to the injustices or exploitations committed by the elite by pressurizing the government to take required actions. However, when this is absent they turn to other means to seek justice, which is usually violent and leads to more problems (Bohara, Mitchel and Nepal). There is a clear shortage of such representation in Nepal which has created the Maoist insurgency and the consequent political deadlock. Foreign forces like the government of India also took advantage of this situation. They have always been interested in the natural resources of Nepal, particularly the rivers to generate electricity. They sheltered the Maoists of Nepal in hopes that in its weakened state Nepal would not be able to stop them from exploiting its resources (Mishra, 2004). As a result we see incredible amounts of power outages in Nepal every day, while much of the electricity generated by Nepali rivers is used to light up Indian homes.

The Facts

•There are over 70 different political parties in Nepal all competing with one another in terms of ideology and government representation.

•There are 24 political parties in the constituent assembly, some hailing from the same ideologies but differing in priorities. Eg. 5 different communist parties: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist and Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist), Communist Party of Nepal (United), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified)

•In 1990 the Absolute Monarchy of Nepal was replaced by a Constitutional Monarchy that remained effective till 2008 when Nepal became a Republic.

•From the period of 1990-1996 Nepal remained a parliamentary monarchy.

•In 1996 Maoist rebels started a violent insurgency that effected 50 of the 75 districts of Nepal. Approximately 11000 lives were lost during the insurgency.

•In 2001 all the members of the Royal Family were massacred under suspicious circumstances. The public were persuaded to believe that the Crown Prince had killed his family because they were against his wish to marry a certain woman. The massacred Kings only surviving brother took the throne under much controversy.

•From 2005 to 2007 King Gyanendra suspended the parliament and enforced martial law arguing that the political parties were incapable of handling the Maoist Armed Conflict. Basic civil liberties such as freedom of press, gatherings in public, etc. were taken away. Telephone lines and access to internet were frequently cut and curfews were put in effect with orders to shoot to kill violators.

•In May 2008 Monarchy was abolished ending the 240 royal rule of Nepal and the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) headed the government by winning the election by landslide.

•The Maoists resigned in 2009 after a tape that showed the then prime-minister and Maoist leader Prachanda talking to his soldiers about how their plans were to just get into mainstream politics in order to take over the country entirely.

•The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) took over the government from hen till present.

•The maoists and other parties have been staging “bandhs” which are basically protests that require all businesses and government offices to close down. These “bandhs” often turn violent if they are violated or different political factions run into one another. In 2009 one part of Nepal or the other remained closed for a ridiculous 298 days out of 365 out doing the 254 from 2008. (The Himalayan Times, April 1^st. 2010)

•There is an average of 16 hour electricity cuts a day.

•The efforts of creating a new constitution till today have not been successful as there is always a few parties that obstruct getting it passed.

Conclusions

The National Identity Crisis faced by the populations of Nepal translate into divided identities that are in constant conflict with one another. Although elections take place in a democratic fashion, rival groups who constantly try to overthrow them see the elected government as illegitimate. Educated unemployed youths fuel this fire with their radical ideologies and actions. A more aware urban population realizing the governments incapacity to meet their needs also add to the disruptive forces against the stability of the government. Consequently, governance becomes ineffective and unstable. This leads to the worsening of the government’s capacity to address and mediate demands and conflicts respectively.

Suggestions

•So instead of putting effort into educating the masses at first, the priority should be to create jobs through strengthening existing industries such as agriculture, textile mills, tourism, etc. When there are enough jobs for the educated youth to keep busy at, it will redirect their radical energy towards other things rather than overthrowing the government.

•Political bureaucracies should be strengthened so that they can successfully meet the demands of the public in an efficient and effective manner. The private sector should also be engaged in the reshaping of the Nation, as competing firms will have more incentives to produce better results (Gerson, 2001).

•People should find incentive to remain in their villages. This can be done by government assistance in the agriculture sector. Agricultural industries should concentrate around villages so that villagers have plenty of employment opportunities and do not find it necessary to migrate to cities where they would otherwise pressurize an infantile government more demands than it can handle.

•Corruption should have severe consequences. The government should work towards the goal of Nation Building as its priority rather than petty power struggles. This will lead to an effective and efficient establishment of political institutions that are capable of winning the trust and support of the public. This is the only way a new National Identity can be established.

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