Inspired by the ‘subaltern urbanisation’ concept used by Denis, Zérah and Mukhopadhyay (2012) regarding small Indian towns, our project focuses on small Nepalese towns and their inhabitants. This topic has never been addressed in Nepal where the study of large towns monopolises the research agenda. Now that Nepal has started its urban transition, it is also implementing a major decentralisation policy. In this context, the rise in the number of urban units, from 58 to 256 in the space of four years, has led to a 40 % increase in the rate of urbanisation. These new municipalities, often more rural than urban, introduce laws and standards at local level, thus creating situations of ‘legal pluralism’ through which inhabitants have to navigate. We study both the growth patterns of small urban units (crossroads, bazaars, suburbs) and the way decentralisation is expressed on the peripheries.
This project is a partnership between the Centre for Himalayan Studies and Martin Chautari. It gathers together Tristan Bruslé (CNRS-CEH), Olivia Aubriot (CNRS-CEH), Blandine Ripert, (CNRS-EHESS-CEIAS), Mallika Shakya, (South Asian University, Delhi), Yogesh Raj Mishra, (Martin Chautari) and Sohan Prasad Sha (Martin Chautari).
This research programme is funded for a period of three years by the CNRS’s International Scientific Cooperation Projects (International Emerging Actions (IEA).