SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Since Nepal was created as a nation, its constitutional history has been inextricably linked to the tortuous process of democratization and the efforts to create a more equitable and inclusive polity. A specific segment of Nepal's constitutional trajectory is the 1990 constitutional experience. This book investigates the relationship between constitutional nationalism and patterns of legal exclusion during the 1990 constitutional experience of Nepal, focusing on the institutional management of socio-cultural diversity by the state in the context of post-Cold War re-democratization and the outcome of such strategy. The ‘unity in diversity’ approach embraced by Nepali state actors resulted in growing discontent among many social groups since 1990 and strong opposition to the 1990 Constitution itself. This book examines the legacy of this institutional strategy and how it is intertwined with the enduring socio-political conflict that Nepal has had to deal with even after the abrogation of the 1990 document in January 2007. It assesses the path-dependent importance of sedimented institutional structures and their resilience to change and considers the connection between law and politics in processes of constitutional change. It demonstrates that the recent reconfiguration of law primarily as ‘right’ places great expectations on the emancipatory potential of law in redressing historical injustices and initiating political change by legal means.