Ardika Nurfurkon, Teguh Ilham, Riyan Jaelani
et al.
This research aims to explore public opinion formed with the dynamics of political parties on social media. Content and sentiment was conducted on posts on X (Twitter). Potential differences between established and new parties on social media were considered, as well as the influences public opinion had on political dynamics in Indonesia. The findings show a sentiment analysis of generally positive perceptions of political parties, with more positive sentiments towards established parties than new parties. The old party cluster consisting of Demokrat, Gerindra, Golkar, Nasdem, PAN, PDIP, Perindo, PKB, PKS, PPP, and PSI has an average positive sentiment of 67% and negative sentiment of 33%, with PPP having the highest positive sentiment (83%). However, PPP was mentioned the least number of times (551 mentions). Meanwhile, the new party cluster consisting of the Buruh, Gelora, and Ummat Parties has an average positive sentiment of 61% and a negative sentiment of 39%, with Buruh having the highest positive sentiment (72%). Of the old parties, Nasdem was mentioned the most frequently (85,696 times), while the most frequently mentioned new party was Ummat (6,268 mentions). New parties’ mentions accounted for only 2.33% of political party mentions. The contribution of this research is that the dominance of established parties in social media discourse indicates the stability of the party system but also has the potential to limit political innovation and responsiveness to new issues.
Political science (General), Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Human rights have developed into one of the most polarizing issues within the US-China relations, reflecting deeply-rooted ideological divisions between two powers. While current studies often focus on the human rights politics of each country in isolation, there is a lack of comparative analysis of their respective human rights narratives. This study employs an innovative narrative approach to contextualise the study of human rights in the US–China competition. By examining how the US and China have competed in human rights reports during the past two decades through cluster and linguistic analysis, this study reveals divergent strategies of both powers to conceptualise human rights, assign responsibility, delegitimise the rival political systems, and undermine the rival's global reputation on human rights. The findings have implications for the fields of foreign policy narrative and the US–China relations.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
Crises and disasters feature high on political and public agendas around the world. Practitioners wrestle with the challenge to provide protection while maintaining legitimacy. They pine for insights that lie at the heart of public administration: designing effective institutions and preserving transparency; enabling and empowering citizens without undermining a coordinated response; balancing long‐term risks against short‐term needs; bridging the divide between theory and practice, and between the public and private sectors. But in the debates about designing institutions that protect against transboundary threats and critical infrastructure failures, the public administration community is strangely absent. It has parked itself on the sideline, concerning itself with the routine processes of governance. In this article, we argue that the time has come for public administration scholars to incorporate crisis and disaster management into the main research agendas of the field.
Based on ethnographic research on Chinese migrants in Nigeria, Botswana, and Namibia from 2011 to 2015, this article has three lines of argumentation and contribution. First, it proposes a framing of migrant geographies from a humanistic comparative perspective in order to complement the political economy approaches in geographies of migration. Second, lying in the intersection of urban studies and migration studies, it illustrates the different positionalities of cities in three aspects of migrant geographies – migrant space, network, and belonging – echoing the multiscalar analysis of city-making in migration processes. Third, specifically in the context of Chinese migrant geographies, three African cities, Lagos, Gaborone, and Windhoek, are placed in three migrants’ geographic worlds, not always according to their positions in multiscalar power structures, but partly through migrant experiences in which top-down power horizontally works.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
During the constitutional period changes, a new force emerged that and played an important role in the awakening of the people, familiarization with the West, and the publishing of the press, and also thought for a way out of the upcoming deadlocks. Iranian intellectuals came to understand Iran's backwardness through familiarity with the ideas of the new world, and by proposing and publishing new issues in Iranian society, they established different poles of thought that led to the mixing and even opposition of tradition and modernity. The epistemology of the reforms and the explanation of this new reading from thought to the fulfillment of an important precondition is stopped, and that is the knowledge of intellectuals and the fundamental components of their thought. This research, with a thought-oriented approach and documentary content analysis method, deals with the purposeful rereading of the works of Afrasiab Azad, the founder of Hezb Khuda and a traditionalist intellectual of the constitutional and Pahlavi periods, and by evaluating it through the logic of Skinner's contextual approach, In search of an answer to this central question, how is the position of nationalism in the works of Afrasiab Azad and its metamorphosis compared to his contemporaries and contemporaries, and how does this flow contribute to the establishment of the Pahlavi government? Free thoughts are evaluated in the context of the modernist thought of contemporary thinkers.The documents of Afrasiab Azad are available in the sources of purchase documents and in the form of about a thousand files in the repository of documents and national archives. A small number of documents attributed to Afrasiab Azad are available in the Library of the Islamic Council and the Astan Quds Razavi Document Center and have been indexed. An autopsy of a political gathering related to the bread riot in December 1942/Azar 1321 in Tehran has quoted an article about Afrasiab Azad's speech in this context. He has also mentioned the effect of modernization and de-religion in the chapter of westernized plays in relation to the conditions of this art in the first Pahlavi period and the important role of Afrasiab Azad as one of the initiators of the play. The purpose of this study is to put Azad's key concepts in the cultural and discourse contexts from which they were formed with Skinner's method, so that the advantage and validity of his thought can be put to the test. The aim of Skinner's methodology is to enable us to recover the historical identity and genealogy of each such intellectual history text. The guide to the content analysis of the data in this research based on this approach is, on the one hand, the internal logic of the intellectuals' thought system as a whole and a text, and on the other hand, measuring it with the external logic and comparing it with contemporary publications and press - including the magazine Iranshahr, Kaveh and Aindeh- will take place and the focal point is to pay attention to the recognition of opinions and goals, ideas and the thought system of Afrasiab Azad.The findings of the research aim to prove the hypothesis that the association of intellectuals from the intellectual spectrum of Afrasiab Azad led to the expansion of the acceptance of the discourse of authoritarian nationalism and the theorization of the legitimacy of the first Pahlavi government. With the reduction of modern components in the eyes of Azad in the atmosphere of political and intellectual obstruction of the Reza Shahi era, his influential social and political positions declined. In his works and publications, Afrasiab Azad was introduced as an orator, a freedom-seeker and a modernist of the post-constitutional era, who was later introduced as a writer, lawyer and playwright of the political and social genre. He used the ideas of modernism in his opinions to seek transformation along with the tradition and he believed in a form of moderate or reductionist modernism, which at the same time accepted the new concepts of antiquity and nationalism, and religion as well. He saw the base of social mobility and ethnic solidarity in the special political and social conditions of the post-constitutional period. This approach was interpreted and propagated in the service of authoritarian nationalism at the level of the government superstructure and the national unity of ethnicities and religions at the level of the people and the subalterns in order to gain legitimacy. Gradually, the modern ideas were transformed in his opinions and works and with the establishment of Pahlavi I, he only focused on describing and theorizing the existing conditions and the failure of the primary elements. The reduction and transformation of these ideas and accompanying the first Pahlavi government by Afrasiab Azad during the political and intellectual blockage of the Reza Shahi era, turned him into a messenger of the government's official discourse and led to the loss of his influential social and political base and the decline of his role. In the society of writers, a new idea was created.
Political institutions and public administration (General), Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Owolabi Fadeke, Bassey Ikike Ibanga, Isanyinka Stephen Oluwabukunmi
et al.
Our cities gain from recreational parks' fundamental environmental, aesthetic, and recreational benefits. They also bring great economic benefits to any country. The purpose of this research is to assess Citizens' views on the state of three recreational parks and landscaping in Akure, Ondo State. The study aims to evaluate three recreational parks and landscaping in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria, their properties, their impact on users, and the contribution of recreational landscapes to societal development and revenue generation. This paper also suggests better ways to maintain these recreational parks. Gardens with a broad assortment of trees and other plants are a significant recreational feature in developing countries like Nigeria. Urban and recreational facilities have been seen as a tool to improve living conditions in Ondo State. One of the most difficult aspects of maintaining recreational parks is balancing the needs of different user groups, such as those seeking solitude and those seeking raucous play and picnicking. Parks and recreation are typically the "engine" of local tourism. In a simplified tourism model, people leave their homes and travel to attractions supported by services such as hotels/motels, restaurants, and commerce.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
The Philippines is not typically the focus of transitional justice (TJ) scholarship. Yet, it has had to deal with violent legacies pertaining to each generation of TJ and has installed several TJ initiatives in response to this. This has given rise to a densely populated TJ landscape, spanning different periods and regions and including both formal and informal initiatives within various TJ pillars. In spite of this plethora of initiatives, the Philippines can hardly be called a ‘successful’ case of dealing with violent legacies – with the recent election of Bongbong Marcos as the most striking example thereof. In this article I argue that this can be understood in light of the absence of a genuine TJ ecology : there has not been an encompassing approach in which various kinds of initiatives interact with each other based on intersecting normative objectives. I argue that the case of the Philippines holds broader lessons regarding the importance of a more ecological understanding of TJ.
International relations, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Introduction. Folklore narratives recorded at the turn of the 20th century contain ideas inherent to the ancient worldview of Kalmyks and dating back to the period of hunting and cosmogonic knowledge. So, insights into folktale / epic heritage abundant in mythoritual experiences of the ethnos can significantly supplement the available ethnographic data. Goals. The article aims at supplementing a reconstruction of the cosmogonic mythical plot of the heavenly hunt and seasonal changes. Materials and methods. The paper employs the structural / semantic, structural / typological, and comparative methods to analyze some Kalmyk folktale and epic texts. Results. The analysis shows an obvious connection between Savar = bear and Kökede Mergen which is consistent with the scheme: myth of a hunter / bear → archaic legend of Savar = hunter / bear → folktale of Kökede Mergen the hunter. The textual implementations attest to that both the characters had evolved from the mythological plot about origins of the constellation Orion. However, the difference is that the story of Savar = hunter / bear has been preserved by Kalmyks in an implicit form and is rather manifested in ethnographic substrates, whereas other Mongolic peoples have independent mythological stories about the heavenly hunter Kökede Mergen. The examined motifs of the hero’s miraculous birth and path, migrations of characters typical for bear-related and funeral rites, as well as the connection with the heavenly mare supplement the previously analyzed motifs of Savar’s travels along the lunar road, brotherhood with the bear, similarity of Savar’s sleep to the bear’s hibernation coupled with prohibitions related to the bear’s ability to hear, and the tradition of performing the epic only in evenings, at night, and in winter time. These cluster together to form a set of motifs derived from the nuclear mythological plot about the heavenly hunt and seasonal changes. The considered connections between Savar = bear and Kökede Mergen confirm the cosmic hunter / bear had been replaced by an anthropomorphic character, and attest to there may have existed an archaic plot with the character Savar = hunter / bear, since the image of Savar the hero in the Kalmyk epic still retains anthropomorphic features of the latter. Perhaps, Savar the hero = bear is a transitional image between the hunter / bear and Kökede Mergen, which coincides with the hypothesis that the bear’s image had been replaced by the anthropomorphic character of celestial hunter Kökede Mergen, and the latter be confirmed by plots and motifs of Kalmyk folktales and epic.
History of Asia, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Utilising Pitkin’s concept of representation, this article surveys the landscape of Chinese Indonesian political representation since the advent of regional elections in 1999. Analyses of the dataset of individual profiles of Chinese Indonesian executives, as they adopt inclusive-pairing tactics by taking on deputised roles or appeal using charisma, had demonstrated that there was a visible transition from “descriptive” towards more “substantive” forms of political representation in various constituencies – seen as the most important dimension of ideal representation despite the presence of soft ethnic politics. Recent appeals to indigenism ( pribumi -ism), especially in the wake of Jakarta governor Ahok’s failed re-election bid in 2017, had the effect of confining representational politics towards the narrow margins of ethnicity above all else. This article looks at the precarity of thedivide between pribumis and Chinese Indonesians ( Tionghoa ) from the perspective of political representation at the regions and fills in the lacuna of political representativeness in post-reform Indonesia – overlooked so far by critiques of democracy.
International relations, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
PurposeThis article explores the roles and the expertise of Hong Kong in the internationalization of public administration education.Design/methodology/approachThe methodology is based on the data of 5 internationalization initiatives of one Hong Kong university with its internationalization partners in Macau, Korea, Australia, Russia and Finland. The data obtained lasted for a period of 18 months, from September 2019 to March 2021.FindingsThe finding of this study revealed that (1) there are 5 “pubtropolis roles” (roles of a public administration metropolis) of Hong Kong in the internationalization of public administration education in China, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Belt-and-Road and Europe. The findings also revealed that (2) Hong Kong served as a pubtropolis with its “5C” expertise in curriculum innovation, customized training, competence framework, competence assessment and comparative policy.Research limitations/implicationsAs the methodology of this article is based on the data of 5 internationalization initiatives of one Hong Kong university by one academia only, further studies can be conducted at department, faculty or university level for multiple academia.Practical implicationsThere are two practical implications: (1) The more the roles of a city, the broader the view in its internationalization of public administration initiatives; (2) Hong Kong could further tap on its expertise in “5C” in public administration: curriculum innovation, customized training, competence framework, competence assessment and comparative policy to exert its “geo-management” power.Social implicationsThis article argues that public services can be improved by the setting up of “Sabbatical Leave Scheme for Internationalization of Public Administration” by respective governments to sustain the impacts observed.Originality/valueIt is from the author's original work.
Purpose: This research aims to examine gender preferences for men and women advertising models in Saudi advertisements. Saudi Arabia is known as one of the most gender-segregated society in the world, and it has gender-specific roles, characteristics, and behaviors that are undesirable for the other gender.
Methodology: The questionnaire was developed with the help of earlier studies on perceptions towards advertising models and validated by a jury of experts and focus groups. The gender preferences for ten product categories (including automobiles, baby care products, cigarettes, cosmetics for women, fashion, food & beverages, motorcycles, personal care for men, personal care for women, sporting goods) were examined for men and women models. Similarly, three personal preferences characteristics for both genders (face beauty, voice quality, and Islamic dress), two characteristics for women models (body shape, femininity), and two characteristics for men models (height-weight balance, masculinity) were examined for men and women models separately. Finally, a survey was conducted to solicit responses from respondents (N=412).
Findings: Results indicated significant gender preferences for gender-specific product categories and typical gender stereotypes in advertising models. Men models were preferred in men-specific products, and women models were required in women-specific products. Some product categories (including personal care for men and sporting goods) were ranked higher for men advertising models, while for women advertising models, other product categories (including personal care for women and cosmetics for women) were ranked higher. Masculinity was ranked highest as the preferred personal characteristic for men advertising models, while voice quality was highest for women advertising models. Finally, there is a significant difference between the preferred personal characteristic for men and women advertising models for three characteristics, including face beauty, Islamic dress, and masculinity and femininity.
Implications: Saudi Arabia is a unique society with predominantly unique cultural dominance. Consequently, local culture greatly influences advertisements. It has stereotyped gender roles even in advertisements. This study will establish a baseline for further research on the subject area.
Political science (General), Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Banyak pihak melihat bahwa untuk mengatasinya perlu ada perubahan budaya, kerja keras, komitmen yang tinggi dari semua jajaran baik pemerintah masyarakat sipil dan dunia usaha untuk memberantas korupsi. Saudara- saudara kita di belahan dunia lain dan negara tetangga kita, telah berhasil mengatsinya karena sadar-sesadarnya bahwa korupsi yang merajalela akan menghancurkan segalanya. Warga hongkong misalnya tidak akan membiarkan korupsi melanda kemabli negaranya, karena mereka sadar akan bahaya korupsi dan mereka telah membuktikan betapa besarnya manfaat yang diperoleh dari suatu kehidupan yang bebas dari korupsi.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Introduction. Oirats of China, Mongolia and Kalmyks of Russia live in three different countries — but share common ethnic ancestry. Oirats of China primarily reside in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, and Hara-Muren (Amur River valley). In Mongolia, Oirats traditionally inhabit western provinces, such as Uvs, Khovd, Bayan-Ölgii, Zavkhan, and Khӧvsgӧl. In Russia, Kalmyks live in the Republic of Kalmykia and Astrakhan Oblast. Some minor Oirat and Kalmyk groups reside in Kyrgyzstan, Europe, and America. Despite being separated by historical eras, state borders and differing cultural-economic conditions, Oirats and Kalmyks still preserve the common vivid tradition of oral poetry largely represented by folk songs. In Russia and Europe, the earliest recordings of Oirat and Kalmyk folk songs were made 260 years ago. Those divide into lingering and short ones: the former serve to celebrate remarkable events, such as rituals, festivities and holidays; the former are usually sung by young people during regular household activities. Goals. The paper seeks to review the history of recording, investigating and publishing Oirat and Kalmyk folk songs. Results. The article analyzes folk songs of Oirats and Kalmyks, setting forth a coherent historical paradigm of theirs in Russia and European countries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
History of Asia, Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
Klungkung Regency as one of the regencies in Bali that has land and islands, the problem faced is the low coverage of ownership documents. Therefore, the Klungkung Regency Population and Civil Registry Service implements the Program to Accelerate Increasing Scope of Population Document Ownership, the policy being an innovative step in overcoming population services in Klungkung Regency. Based on these problems, in this study we want to analyze community perceptions of service performance in the P3CKDK in Klungkung Regency. The method used in this study is the mix methods, namely using quantitative methods in public perception then proceed with qualitative methods to explore existing data. Based on the results of the analysis show that the service performance that gets the highest public response (tends to strongly agree) is the empathy index. While other indices in service performance also received a positive response from the public. Furthermore, public perceptions related to program performance from various indices tended to strongly agree. The index that gets the highest rating is the program access index. Correlation between service performance and program performance results in a positive correlation which means that if one indicator increases the associated indicator will also increase. Based on the tests conducted, it shows that service responsiveness with program performance produces the highest correlation, while the lowest correlation is assurance with program performance.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
# Background:
Since 2010, Korea has maintained a DNA database of those convicted of or awaiting trial for certain crimes. There have been proposals to expand the list of crimes included in this database, or conversely, omit certain crimes if they are committed during protests. An understanding of the feelings of the public as we consider the ethical, legal, and social aspects of a DNA database and as revisions to laws are made is required.
# Methodology:
Questions related to the DNA database were included in the nationally representative Korean Academic Multimode Open Survey (KAMOS) panel (June-August 2016).
# Results:
Of 2,000 randomly selected panel members, 1,013 respondents participated in this survey, including 89.2% who supported the existence of a criminal DNA database. The current system of storing DNA profiles until a suspect's acquittal or a convict's death was supported by 79.5% of respondents. In addition, 70.8% of respondents agreed with the expansion of crime categories included in the criminal database. Many (93.4%) respondents favored genetic testing and data storage to determine the identity and cause of death for people who die of unnatural causes. Some differences in attitude related to social class were noted, with those who self-identified as members of the upper class more likely to support the database and its expansion to include additional crimes than those who self-identified as middle or lower class.
# Conclusion:
Our findings suggest that Koreans generally support the criminal DNA database.
Political science (General), Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
The government of Bandung city had a responsibility to run administration, development of the government, and to provide excellent service for the community to create dignigfied, excellent, comfortable, and prosperous Bandung community. The success of the government in achieving performance targets was not balanced by the improvement of their employees’ performance. The aim of the study was to analyze the quality of work life, communication within the organization, work satisfaction and employees discipline within the government of Bandung, and the influence among these variables as well. The method of the study was explanatory survey. The population of this study was regional civil servants in Bandung city. Proportionate random sampling was used to 393 staff members of regional work units within the city of Bandung. The instrument was questionnaire, and data analysis used path analysis with the assist of a statistical package named SPSS 19.0. Based on the results of the study, it could be concluded that the employee performance will be built through quality of work life, effectiveness of organizational communication, job satisfaction, and work discipline. Recommendation are: Bandung City Government facilitates the development of employee skills, develops organizational communication more interactively, improves job satisfaction, improves work discipline, and optimizes the work time for each main task settlement
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
This article examines how China’s economic and social development has influenced its commitment to regional environmental governance in Northeast Asia. Environmental problems in China have drawn cross-border attention, and China must address these serious problems. On the other hand, China is a unique country in East Asia because it has succeeded in growing its economy and competing in an international marketplace while also maintaining an authoritarian regime. Considering this unique position in the region, how can China solve common environmental challenges in a cooperative manner? What factors have affected cross-border cooperation with China’s counterparts? This article points out that there are two principles found in environmental diplomacy in China: common but differentiated responsibility in global environmental issues and building friendship and partnerships with neighboring countries. These principles have affected China’s commitment to regional environmental cooperation in the way of mixture of modest and defensive attitudes. Moreover, in the context of regional environmental cooperation in Northeast Asia, the article argues that Japan has been an important factor for China to learn Japanese experiences as well as to enjoy Japan’s affluent financial assistance. Recent economic and social development in China has made its commitment more positive in global environmental cooperation on the one hand and more uncertain in terms of regional environmental governance on the other hand. The transnational network of non-state actors is now limited in their opportunities to commit to the regional environmental governance; however, there can be hope for sustainable future in terms of neighboring partnerships.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only), Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only)
The Purpose of this study were : 1. To know how to dicipline employess work in improving the performance of employees at office agency unity of banda and political in Bone Bolango regency, 2. To determine the dicipline of work in improving the performance of employees at the office agency unity of Banda and Political in Bone Bolango regency. With this type is a qualitative study with a descrittive aproach. Based on the research that : 1. The division of duties for civil servants in the ofice agency unity of banda and political in Bone Bolango regency already based on local regulation nomber 10 of 2010 on the organizational structure of the office agency unity of banda and political in Bone Bolango regency, entrusted the organizational structure it self consists of head of the body, secretariat and functional groups. 2. The dicipline of employees working on the office agency unity of Banda and political in Bone Bolango regency not go according to existing rules, there are many employees, especially in service to the community, and 3. The quality of the performance of employees in the office agency unity of banda and polical in Bone Bolango regency has been running very well, while the quantity of employee performance can not be said to be good because it has not been realized as a whole.
Tujuan penelitian ini adalah : 1) Untuk mengetahui bagaimana disiplin kerja pegawai dalam meningkatkan kinerja pegawai pada kantor Badan Kesatuan Bangsa dan Politik Kabupaten Bone Bolango, 2) Untuk mengetahui disiplin kerja dalam meningkatkan kinerja pegawai pada kantor Badan Kesatuan Bangsa dan Politik Kabupaten Bone Bolango. Dengan jenis penelitian adalah penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan deskriptif.Berdasarkan hasil penelitian bahwa : 1) Pembagian tugas bagi pegawai negeri sipil pada Badan Kesatuan bangsa dan Politik Kabupaten Bone Bolango sudah berdasarkan pada Peraturan Daerah nomor 10 tahun 2010 tentang struktur organisasi Badan Kesatuan Bangsa dan Politik Kabupaten Bone Bolango, yang struktur organisasi itu sendiri terdiri dari kepala badan, sekretariat dan kelompok jabatan fungsional, 2) Disiplin kerja pegawai pada Badan Kesatuan Bangsa dan Politik Kabupaten Bone Bolango belum berjalan sesuai aturan yang ada, masih banyak pegawai yang tidak menjalankan disiplin tersebut sehingga sangat berpengaruh terhadap kinerja pegawai khususnya pada pelayanan kepada masyarakat, dan 3) Kualitas kinerja pegawai pada Badan Kesatuan Bangsa dan Politik Kabupaten Bone Bolango sudah berjalan dengan sangat baik sedangkan kuantitas kinerja pegawai belum bisa dikatakan baik karena belum terealisasi secara keseluruhan.
Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)
The Madheshi agitation of 2007 and the Tharuhat agitation of 2009 redefined the ethnic relation between the self-identifying Tharu and Madheshi communities. At that time, the Tharu not only contested Pahadi (hill-origin) identity but also vehemently confronted the increasing hegemony of Madheshi caste groups by challenging the notion of Madhesh, Madheshi labelling, and the demand for a single Madhesh province across the Tarai, as put forward by the Madheshi community. Tharus that enthusiastically participated in the 2007 Madheshi agitation, appeared to be against the same identity just two years later. Why did they turn around? This article argues that the Tharu sensed the systematic initiation of Madheshisation of their centuries-long indigenous identity, while Madheshi activists and leaders undermined the concept of the Tharuhat, Tharu language and culture, by continuously insisting on the Madheshi label, a Madhesh province, and the Hindi language. Their eventual challenge to the Madheshi label raised questions about the legitimacy of the Madheshi agitation, a fact that some Madheshi leaders claim is political blackmail. This article seeks to bring out the Tharu-Madheshi contestation in relation to identity claims and state restructuring in Nepal, particularly with reference to the Tarai.
Social sciences and state - Asia (Asian studies only), Political institutions and public administration - Asia (Asian studies only)