Nanda R. Shrestha

Bio: Nanda R. Shrestha is an academic researcher from Florida A&M University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Foreign direct investment. The author has an hindex of 14, co-authored 34 publications receiving 580 citations. Previous affiliations of Nanda R. Shrestha include University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.

A structural perspective on labour migration in underdeveloped countries

Abstract: In a stimulating historical treatment McNeill (1978) discusses the pivotal role that the geographical movement of human population has played in the process of socioeconomic formation and transformation (also see Balan, 1982; Davis, 1974; Lee, 1978). While the forms of migration have varied through time and space, labour migration has become a prominent type of migration, especially since the ’genesis of the capitalist farmer’ in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries (Marx, 1964; 1967). Today, migration has emerged as a major population and development concern for most third world governments attracting considerable research attention. Yet most studies have generally failed to provide more than proximate explanations of why migration occurs (Bilsborrow et al., 1984). The attempt here is to provide a structural perspective on the on-going process opf migration in underdeveloped societies. In this endeavour, I propose a general conceptual framework one in which migration is viewed as a structural process that is systematically produced and reproduced. While some may find the proposed framework general enough to be applicable to many underdeveloped countries, others may find it too general to explain certain regional and national variations in migration forms, patterns and impacts. My own contention is that like many other social science theories, this one also may have to be somewhat modified when applied to specific case studies in order to account for possible regional variations; this does not however lessen its theoretical value as a general structural framework.

The Cultural Politics of Markets: Economic Liberalization and Social Change in Nepal by Katherine Neilson Rankin

Abstract: Blaikie’s essay, ‘‘Imagined Landscapes of Age and Identity.’’ Blaikie blends humanist and critical scholarship in fluid prose, painting a poignant picture of the journey in ageing through real and imagined worlds. The essay evokes both the wonders and brutal realities of this mystery we call ageing. Places and landscapes—real and metaphorical—speak to the ‘‘orienting course’’ that people navigate in facing difficulties of age, including the sobering reality that ‘‘decay is an inescapable consequence of youthful flowering, and is seldom admired’’ (p. 175). The ‘‘cultural’’ and ‘‘spatial’’ turns continue to energize ageing studies, evinced by scholars across the social sciences and humanities. We should like to see more participants in this admittedly underpopulated endeavor. The editors of Ageing and Place float the idea for a journal dedicated to ‘‘showcase the continued multidisciplinary research on ageing and place’’ (p. 1). This is a splendid idea that would surely bolster the cause.

The vacillating evolution of forestry policy in Nepal: Historically manipulated, internally mismanaged

Abstract: The history of Nepalese forestry reveals that very little progress has been made in effectively integrating people's needs with forest management objectives through forestry policy mandates and practices. This paper critically examines Nepal's forestry policies and use practices during the pre-unification period (pre-1769), the Rana regime (1846–1950), planned development (the 1950s), the Panchayat regime (1960–90) and post-democracy (1990 to the present). This historical critique finds that political posturing, rhetoric and personal profiteering have taken precedence over public duty, regardless of whether autocratic or pseudo-democratic regimes were in power. Thus far, forest policy studies have focused on the hill zone of Nepal. This paper focuses on Tarai forestry, and exposes the geopolitical and political economic forces in play. It concludes that a lack of fiscal transparency and accountability on the part of the government, and the monopolistic control of the sale of forest produce by the Timber C...

Frontier Migration and Upward Mobility: The Case of Nepal

Abstract: The objective was to investigate how frontier migration affects migrants socioeconomic improvements in the Tarai which is regarded as Nepals land frontier as well as its agricultural backbone. The investigation was based on personal observations and field survey data collected in the Tarai frontier districts of Chitwan and Nawalparasi in 1988. It was proposed that socioeconomic mobility at the frontier is predicated on: 1) the timing of migration and settlement 2) migrants previous socioeconomic positions and 3) the availability of employment opportunities. In 1988 Nepal was ranked as the fourth poorest country in the world. The average per capita holding of farm land is 0.16 hectare. Large-scale migration of people took place from the highland villages in the hills to the Tarai frontier in the plain stretching east-west along the Nepal-India border. According to the 1981 census the number of internal life-time migrants increased from 445000 in 1971 to almost 930000 in 1981. The sample comprised 407 migrant households from the hills. In terms of land-acquisitions they were grouped into government grantees purchasers self-occupiers and landless. There were 84 migrants (21%) who were landless in the hills and 166 (41%) near landless. To model migrants Tarai landholdings (TLAND) as the dependent variable was regressed against a set of predictor variables: the year of settlement (SETTLE) capital asset in the hills (ASSET) family size (FAM) education (ED) wage earning (WAGE) and Tarai settlement experience (INTERACT). Tarai landholdings were expected to be positively correlated with the first 4 variables but inversely with WAGE and INTERACT. The regression results showed that all of the predictor variables were significantly correlated with TLAND as expected. The year of settlement (SETTLE) was the dominant variable in explaining land acquisitions (TLAND) followed by capital assets in the hills (ASSET). These 2 variables explained 40% of the variance in the dependent variable TLAND.

The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century

Abstract: The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century Thomas L. Friedman Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005 Thomas Friedman is a widely-acclaimed journalist, foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times, and author of four best-selling books that include From Beirut to Jerusalem (1989). His eminence as a journalist is clearly demonstrated in the way he prepared for The World is Flat. He traveled throughout the world, interviewing in depth the political and business leaders who have the most direct, hands-on knowledge of the truly incredible developments occurring in the business structures and technology of globalization. Only a journalist who moves freely at the highest levels could interview the likes of Sir John Rose, the chief executive of Rolls-Royce; Nobuyuki Idei, the chairman of Sony; Richard Koo, the chief economist for the Nomura Research Institute; Bill Gates of Microsoft; Wee Theng Tan, the president of Intel China; David Baltimore, president of Caltech; Howard Schultz, founder and chairman of Starbucks; Nandan Nilekani, CEO of Infosys in Bangalore - and many others, each of whom gave him the inside story of how, specifically, the barriers of time and space separating economies, workforces, sources of capital, and technical abilities are crumbling. The result of this unfolding story, already far along but with much farther to go, according to Friedman, is that "the world is flat." With some notable exceptions in sub-Saharan Africa and the Islamic swathe, everything is connected with everything else on a horizontal basis, with distance and erstwhile time-lags no longer mattering. Friedman describes in detail the galloping globalization that has unfolded in even so limited a time as the past five years. Under the impetus of a worldwide network of interconnectivity, the world economy is much-changed from what it was at the turn of the century a mere half-decade ago. Friedman quotes the CEO of India's Infosys: "What happened over the last [few] years is that there was a massive investment in technology, especially in the bubble era, when hundreds of millions of dollars were invested in putting broadband connectivity around the world, undersea cables," while (Friedman paraphrases him) "computers became cheaper and dispersed all over the world, and there was an explosion of software - e-mail, search engines like Google, and proprietary software that can chop up any piece of work and send one part to Boston, one part to Bangalore, and one part to Beijing...." Microprocessors today have 410 million transistors compared to the 2800 they had in 1971. And now, "wireless is what will allow you to take everything that has been digitized, made virtual and personal, and do it from anywhere." The effect on productivity is revolutionary: "It now takes Boeing eleven days to build a 737, down from twenty-eight days just a few years ago. Boeing will build the next generation of planes in three days, because all the parts are computer-designed for assembly." The most strikingly informative aspect of this book, however, is not about technology. Most especially, Friedman explores the rapidly evolving global business systems, each constantly regenerating itself to keep ahead of the others. These are systems that span the continents seeking the lowest-cost providers of everything from expert scientific and engineering work to the lowliest grunt work. Friedman points out that India produces 70,000 accounting graduates each year - and that they are willing to start at $100 a month. It is no wonder that Boeing employs 800 Russian scientists and engineers for passenger-plane design when "a U.S. aeronautical engineer costs $120 per design hour, a Russian costs about one-third of that." Friedman describes a call center in India where outbound callers sell "everything from credit cards to phone minutes," while operators taking inbound calls do "everything from tracing lost luggage for U.S. and European airline passengers to solving computer problems for confused American consumers. …