The Nepalese socio-economic and political systems have been undergoing transition from a very conventional type of agrarian economy and autocratic political system to democratic norms and values. With the dawn of democracy in Nepal in 1951 and the various democratic movements as mentioned in previous sections, the foundation of the feudal patronage system has been gradually weakened. The increasing number of schools and colleges and the increasing awareness level in the general population has meant that the feudal patronage system is now on a downward trend in Nepal. With the success of the first democratic movement of Nepal (1990), the then king who was previously above the constitution was under the constitution after the movement (Whelpton, 2005). Later on, with the Maoist War, 1996-2006, and the second democratic movement of 2006, these movements overthrew the king from his palace. Accordingly, the feudal system that prevailed in communities and societies is now being gradually overthrown, replaced by the rights of the poor and deprived castes and the tribes of the country. The Nepal government has recently emphasised equity rather than equality, which has benefitted marginalised and deprived groups such as widows, and
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elderly people, by providing allowances and priority to females and lower caste people in jobs and scholarships quota. Consequently, many marginalized people are benefitting in terms of their livelihood and have paid attention to social and economic development activities. With these circumstances, PLHIV have a conducive environment to integrate into the mainstream of development activities through jobs and training. Thus, change in the political system from autocracy to democracy has gradually created a conducive political environment everywhere in favour of marginalised communities, including PLHIV.
The Nepalese socio-economic and political systems are based on a philosophy that assigns work division based on gender, caste and class differently. It also affects the level of education and working jobs differently in Nepalese society, though the country has recently been declared as a secular country. Brahman people were assigned the work of instructor as pandit (priest), Kshetree people as warrior and administrator,
Vaishya people as trades and agricultural, Sudra people as servants assisting the upper caste people. Therefore the people’s work is assigned and understood differently on the basis of their caste and ethnic tribes (Von Fürer-Haimendorf, 1957). The same types of labour division are assigned by gender, with males doing hard work outside the home, working either in the farm or anywhere else to earn money, and females working in the kitchen and caring for children. Over time, there developed rich and poor people under the labour division. The work of the rich people seemed to be in higher class jobs and of the poor people to be knowingly and unknowingly in lower class jobs. Similarly, there are also labour differentials between literate/educated and illiterate people. The literate and educated people hesitate to do the jobs undertaken by lower class people (carrying of loads, sweeping/cleaning as well as labour jobs). The class and educational
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attainment etc., and their social interactions follow on the same ways (intra-caste marriage, social customs and so forth). The norms and values of gender, caste and class have created visible power relations based on social hierarchical orders, such as, gender based roles, caste based roles (including so called touchable and untouchable castes), and rich and poor people’s working roles. There is also a clear picture that the social customs that prevailed in Nepalese society enabled upper class and upper castes to grasp power. Therefore, there have been a number of historical socio-political events in Nepalese society as discussed above that have enabled lower caste and class people to benefit to some extent: the movement to democracy in 1951, multi-party democracy in 1990, and republic with multi-party system in 2006 (Aasland & Haug, 2011).
The caste, class, and gender roles assigned in the philosophy, which were interdependent on each other, are now diminishing following the demands of society. The living standards of Nepalese people are increasing and people are consuming more and more facilities (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2011). Everyone seems to be involved in work for better remuneration irrespective of the job category - upper and lower level jobs. In this situation, with their increased remuneration, most people can cope with modern demands of home and society. On the other hand, many people are not fully convinced about the view that they stay in their present employment just because “God has put them there”. Therefore, people are now moving from collectivism and interdependence to independence. This applies not only for caste and class but also for gender as family structure is now drastically changing from extended family and joint family to nuclear family. Even in the nuclear family with only husband, wife and their children, if the husband and wife are not in the same place because of their job or study or something else, their role cannot be assigned differently. At present, people are trying
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to do everything independently within the home and outside home. The changed pattern of diminishing collectivism and interdependence are working well enough in Nepalese societies irrespective of caste, class and gender; that seems visible with an increasing trend of modernization and urbanization. These norms and values of modernization and urbanization are evident in PLHIV after previously being stigmatised and discriminated in family and society.
Although there have been socio-cultural transformations associated with Nepalese political history for various segments of Nepalese society as discussed above, in general, it still remains to examine the experiences of low socio-economic status people. In this study, one of the marginalised groups of people in Nepalese socio-cultural settings is PLHIV whose experiences are likely to parallel experiences of people marginalised by gender, caste, and class, in addition to marginalisation by HIV and AIDS. Therefore, this study must also consider, in the Nepalese context, the experience of the marginalised group that PLHIV represent; those people who have experienced the socio-political changes in the country in terms of these issues. After analysing the issues of research participants, seen especially in chapter seven, and their experiences of socio- economic transformations (see, particularly, chapters eight and nine), their experiences are seen as imperative for describing the changing socio-economic status of marginalised people in general and of PLHIV in particular. It is necessary to see how issues of gender, class and caste are interconnected, especially when it comes to the formation of policies, which I will discuss in Chapter Ten.
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2.5 Conclusion
This chapter describes a complex, intertwined process between democratization, development and socio-cultural transformation. In Nepal, socio-cultural transformations have been progressing as the processes of democratization and development gradually proceed and strengthen over time. Two key aspects of socio-cultural transformation are the movement from collectivism to individualism on the one hand, and its effects, both facing economic constraints and creating a conducive environment for socio-economic empowerment on the other. PLHIV, especially women without economic supporters, face both economic constraints and an opportunity to engage in economic activities outside the home – a result of changing socio-cultural norms, and the value attached to becoming independent, both economically and socially. In addition, issues of HIV and AIDS have been integrated gradually into government family planning and reproductive health policies and programmes since the discovery of HIV in the country in 1988. Other development activities such as the expansion of transportation and communication technology, empowerment of women in terms of providing wider education opportunities, expansion of HIV and AIDS knowledge even from emigrant returnees, have all made it easier to gradually tackle and manage HIV issues in the country.
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Chapter Three: Literature Review
Chapter three reviews existing studies in the field of stigma, discrimination and disruption of human needs associated with HIV from a global perspective outside Nepal, alongside studies in the context of Nepal. This chapter also reviews those studies undertaken in the field of HIV, especially in identity crisis and identity transformation from an outside country perspective. Likewise, it also reviews existing studies on the impacts of stigma, discrimination, and disruption associated with HIV on identity issues with a view to investigating the research gap in a Nepalese context. Finally, taking into account the existing literature, an attempt is made to provide theoretical and conceptual frameworks for contextualising the present study with a focus on identity issues.
3.1 Identity Crisis and Identity Transformation