Contents: Foreword. I. Keynotes and commemorative paper: Keynotes: 1. History, structure and conceptualization and categorization in sociology/Chaitanya Mishra. 2. Making space by Nepali anthropologists: an appraisal/Dilli Ram Dahal. Commemorative paper: 3. In memory of Prof. Santa Bahadur Gurung/Bipin K. Acharya. II. Cultural Identity, movement and Governance: 4. Diversity and reconstruction of identities in contemporary Nepal/Asha Lal Tamang and Dimpal Yonjan Lama. 5. Culture conservation and identity making: the public anthropology of ethnic museums and heritage sites/Bipin Kumar Acharya. 6. Public understanding of the Government at local level/Bishnu Raj Upreti and Sony K.C. 7. Maoist movement in Nepal: implications for India/Eyasin Khan. 8. The narrative of Chawa: The Yamphu notion of self, identity and territory/Hom Yamphu. 9. Caste and identity: an ethnographic study of Dalit students/Kuldip Neupane. 10. Does law exist in the informal (stateless) society? A study of community laws and justice system of the Kisans of Eastern Nepal/Shambhu Prasad Kattel. 11. The magars, their history and identity in the eyes of scholars/Shyamu Thapa Magar. III. Development, Social mobilization and poverty: 12. Development impact: forced marginalization or retrofitting of economy?/Bhanu Timseena. 13. Dependency while producing public knowledge: an experience from post 1990 Nepal/Devendra Uprey. 14. Applicability of transition management and backcasting in Nepal: a case study from Kaule, Nuwakot District Eva Wieners, Martina Neuburger and Udo Schickhoff. 15. The potential of harmonization of modern development with traditional cultures: effects of migration on traditional Tamang society in Nepal/Kazuko Tatsumi and Phurpa Tamang. 16. Alcoholism and poverty: an incessant relationship/Parpanna Maskey. 17. Social mobilization for democratizing local Governance and development in Nepal: lessons from local Governance and community development program/Sangram S. Lama. 18. Disguised development: reigning Chaos/Santosh K. Bhagat. 19. Concept of development for the ethnic communities: a boon of bane? Field experiences from the Chenchus/Savaras (in India) and Newars (in Nepal)/Sipoy Sarveswar and Kiran Maharjan. IV. Disability and social inclusion/exclusion: 20. Disability and suffering: the challenges faced by people with physical disability/Khusboo Gupta. 21. Overcoming barriers to higher education: the experience of University graduates with disabilities/Santosh Shrestha. 22. Poverty as living with disability/Tek Nath Subedi. V. Education, Health and Nutrition: 23. Diet, physical activity and morbidity profiles of the elderly in a Kolkata neighbourhood: an exploratory study/Abhijit Dutta. 24. Technical education and poverty reduction in Nepalese rural village: focusing on Chapagaun VDC Lalitpur, Nepal/Amit Koirala. 25. Missing category: mental health in school level education/Obindra B. Chand and Devendra Uprety. 26. Role of education in social inclusion of Muslims in Nepal/Pasang Sherpa. 27. Medical practices among Hyolmos: an overview/Ram Hari Dhakal. VI. Gender and womenhood: 28. Personal narratives of Thakali women: education and aspiration/Dipti Sherchan. 29. Abused girl children in a slum of Berhampur (India)/Itishree Padhi. 30. In the modern way: women, development, and modernity in urban Nepal/Margaret Becker. 31. Gender mainstreaming: challenges as perceived among Nepalese Professionals/Mina Devi Uprety. 32. Sexuality in the making: Nepali rural women’s experience/Mira Mishra. 33. Patriarchy and the politics of gender identity in Nepal/Sarita Uprety. 34. Construction of masculinity in Vedic society: a sociological analysis/Shukra Raj Adhikari. 35. A study on effect of biogas in Terai arc landscape (TAL) from gender perspectives/Sikshya Adhikary Rana. VII. Human rights, violence of human security: 36. Concepts and major initiatives of human security/Bishnu Pathak. 37. Schemata of HIV/AIDS and human rights in Nepal: community legal empowerment through documentation of human rights violations/S.L. Acharya, R. Ayer and Prakash Yogi. 38. Symbolic violence in inter-caste marriage between Dalit and non-Dalit/Tilak Biswakarma and Samrat Sharma. VIII. Media, society and culture: 39. Nuances of news reporting: a socio-cultural assessment/Jagadish Pokhrel and Bipin Kumar Acharya. 40. Nepali print media in post-2006 frame: acquainting the masses on federalism/Sagun Sunder Lawoti. IX. Natural resource management: 41. Perceived impacts of climate change and sociocultural practices for adaptation/Anita Shrestha. 42. Ethnography of supply-driven groundwater irrigation development: a case study from Central Tarai of Nepal/Laya Prasad Uprety. 43. Role of community forests in sustainable rural development: a case study of Buddha community forest/Ram Maharjan and Kazuko Tatsumi. X. Social and cultural change: 44. Polyandry in relation to natural resource conservation: a case study of upper mustang/Juddha Bahadur Gurung. 45. Changes in a Chepang village in the days of Nepal’s nation building/Kenichi Tachibana. 46. Weakening jat Samaj and changing inter-caste relations among the Musahars in Tarai villages/Madhu Giri. 47. Caste/ethnic dimension of change and inequality in Nepal/Madhusudan Subedi. 48. Unveiling in the making: changes in the practices of Ghunghat among Maithil women/Pradip Kumar Mahato and Bipin Kumar Acharya. 49. Neo-Sanskritization for inclusive development through comprehensive education/Rajendra Raj Timilsina. 50. How homogenous are the Bahuns?/Tika Ram Gautam. Annexures. Index. This book is an outcome of the three day international conference which brought Nepali, South Asian, and other international scholars of anthropology, sociology and other social sciences into dialogue about the contemporary issues pertaining to the theories and practices of their respective disciplines. The articles published in this book have covered a wide range of social, cultural and development-related issues. These comprise, gender and womenhood, development intervention and forced marginalization, transition to sustainability, social mobilization and governance, education, health and nutrition, cultural identities and culture conservation; Maoist movement and its effects, community laws, migration, media and reporting, federalism, climate change and its impacts, natural resources management, production of public knowledge, social and cultural change, disability and suffering, social exclusion, poverty, human rights and security, and symbolic violence. Anthropologists, sociologists and other social scientists working both in Nepal and abroad in academia as well as applied fields have made contributions to this edited volume of the book.