Home Institution

Fordham University

Publication Date

Spring 2010

Program Name

Nepal: Tibetan and Himalayan Peoples

Abstract

By considering the new road that connects the urban center of Pokhara to the previously isolated region of Lower Mustang, this paper examines the impacts of development in the area. I focus on the varied perspectives of three sets of individuals in the area: the founder of an NGO focused on agricultural development, youth from villages surrounding Jomsom, and a Canadian woman who settled in small village with her Thakali husband. I combine these personal accounts with an analysis of development on a broader scale, discussing a range of themes including conceptions of culture, education, and poverty. I emphasize that residents of the area should be free to determine their own fate and the future progression of development. I argue that the complex nature of the debate surrounding development in Mustang can best be understood through an approach that appeals to detailed personal accounts, since it is the effect upon individuals that matters most.

Disciplines

Growth and Development | Social and Cultural Anthropology

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