Re-imagining the Nation: Citizens in the New Nepal

I'm currently conducting ethnographic research in Kathmandu for my dissertation in Anthropology. My topics of interest revolve around Nepal's ongoing efforts to re-define itself as a nation in the process of re-writing its constitution.Specifically, I investigate how Nepali people envision, debate, and enact national unity in the midst of a tumultuous transition from Hindu monarchy to secular federal democracy. My research analyzes the ways in which Nepali people who oppose the division of the country along ethnic and religious lines are attempting to re-imagine Nepal as a united, secular, democratic state while being confronted with historical legacies of religious hierarchy and ethnic inequality.