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The objective in this research is to examine the production and performance of theatrical activities aiming at bringing about social change in both development and political intervention. My investigation began with Aarohan Theatre Group, a Kathmandu-based professional company and subsequently extended to Maoist cultural troupes. I have taken a critical perspective considering theatre as a mode of socio-cultural practice embedded in the wider socio-political reality. Thus, I present an account of what it means to do theatre and live by theatre in contemporary Nepal, from 2005 to 2006, through the artists' perspective. Co-performance, that is participation in some performances, complemented participant observation as a methodology. Theatre provides an outstanding context for both social reflection and symbolic action. In a manner similar to ritual, theatrical performances can become deliberate means for both constructing and de-constructing power and symbolically legitimizing or de-legitimizing authority. In Nepal, modern artistic and political theatre developed side by side. First, an historical overview of its development will set the scene for understanding the role played by theatrical performances in the years 2005-2006. In fact, during my fieldwork, history repeated itself. The restrictions on civil rights imposed by the king through the 2005 Emergency affected both street and proscenium theatre activities. Subsequently, ethnographic descriptions will illustrate the theatrical apparatus that the king employed to legitimize his power and how autocracy was similarly resisted and fought against in the streets through theatrical forms of protest and street theatre, loktantrik natak. I will then narrow my focus to a specific form of participatory street performance, kachahari natak, to describe how it was adopted and adapted in Nepal and how the theatre group developed as an organization. In conclusion, 1 will draw comparisons between different forms of 'theatre for social change', kachahari natak, loktantrik natak and Maoist cultural programmes.

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The return of a body, alive (sas, lit. ‘breath’) or dead (las) is a recurring demand of relatives of the disappeared in Nepal. Hundreds of people were disappeared by state security forces or abducted by the Maoists during the armed conflict (1996-2006). Uncertainty surrounds their whereabouts and their fate remains unconfirmed. Not knowing for certain whether someone is alive or dead is a painful predicament for relatives. Their loss remains ambiguous: there is no body, only an abrupt rupture in their lives. This thesis explores how the effects of disappearances reverberate in the details of relationships within families, with local communities and with the state. The disappeared person’s absence becomes a disruptive and unsettling presence, and has had particular effects for women whose husbands have disappeared. When people ‘disappear,’ the fragile line between life and death is disrupted: lives and deaths are held in limbo. This thesis explores the social repercussions and the political uses that have been made of this. Ambiguity is both what makes disappearances a particularly difficult kind of loss to bear for relatives; and what makes ‘the disappeared’ a potent political and moral symbol in continuing contests over the state in the aftermath of the war. The relationship between the personal experiences of relatives and the projects of actors seeking to influence the state is complex and over-layered. For relatives, the gap between life and death is paradoxically both a source of hope and of despair. On a political level it becomes a space of ambiguity upon which statecraft is performed. In Nepal, the search for disappeared relatives developed into collective campaigns demanding truth, justice and compensation from the state. This thesis examines how these campaigns, directed by the Maoist party on the one hand and human rights organisations on the other, whilst advocating for relatives of the disappeared have simultaneously utilised the ‘disappeared’ for their own projects to transform or reform the state. The appropriation of the disappeared as political symbols, has involved inscribing them with new identities as ‘conflict victims’ or as ‘disappeared warriors’. The thesis suggests that the absent bodies of the disappeared have been drawn into different contests of sovereignty. It explores how this politicisation both influences the ways in which relatives come to interpret and experience their loss, and is ultimately often rejected by them. In demanding the return of a body, relatives seek to retrieve the person from the political entanglements of contests over sovereign authority: to reclaim the personal from the political.

Forests in developing countries have the potential to contribute to global efforts to mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity and support the livelihoods of rural, local people. Approximately one-fourth of such forests are under the control of local communities, which primarily manage forests for subsistence and to meet their livelihood needs. The trend of bottom-up community control is increasing through the adoption of decentralization reforms over the last 40 years. In contrast, the United Nations has introduced the top-down program, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) for the conservation and enhancement of forest carbon and the sustainable management of forest in developing countries. REDD+ incentivizes forest-managing communities to sequester carbon and reduce emissions. REDD+ has created hope for managing forests to mitigate climate change and has created fear that the new initiative may not be effective and may not ensure continuing forest-managing community benefits. However, little research has been conducted to answer these concerns. By taking nationally representative data from Nepalese community-managed forests (“forest commons"), I bring insights into whether and how these forests can contribute to REDD+ initiatives, particularly as they relate to carbon sequestration, biodiversity, equity in benefit sharing and collective action. My results indicated the highly variable carbon and biodiversity in the forest plots across the country, depicting the availability of space for additional growth in carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. My results also reflect the complex and varied relationships of carbon with different indices of biodiversity at the national level, across geographic and topographic regions, and in forests with varying canopy covers. Weak positive relationships between carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation indicate the possibility of synergies between carbon-forestry and biodiversity conservation. I also found that the formal community forestry program (CFP) has clearly positive impacts on biodiversity conservation and household-level equity in benefit sharing and a negative impact on carbon sequestration at the national level. However, disaggregated results of impacts of CFP on biodiversity, carbon and equity across geography, topography, forest quality and social groups display mixed results i.e., either positive or negative or neutral. I also identified that different drivers of collective action have different (i.e., positive, neutral, and negative) associations with carbon sequestration, which either supports or challenges established knowledge. In aggregate, my research indicates the potential of contribution by forest commons, and specially the CFP, to global environmental initiatives such as REDD+. It suggests that targeted, dedicated policies and programs to increase carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation and foster equity and collective actions are critical. In addition, my results also contribute to the growing literature on socio-ecological implications of forest commons that demonstrated the need of interdisciplinary research to understand human-nature relationships in the changing context.

Data on erosion processes and other aspects of environmental change in the Himalaya are scarce and unreliable, and consequently policy decisions have been taken in a quantitative vacuum. Published estimates of denudation for large catchments in Nepal vary from 0.51 to 5.14 mm/yr, and indicate a dynamic geomorphological environment A review of the literature on erosion in Nepal revealed a consensus that: (1) mass wasting is the dominant hillslope process; (2) activity is seasonal, with virtually all failures occurring during the monsoon; (3) geological factors are the most important determinants of slope stability; (4) sediment delivery to channels is high; (5) little quantitative evidence exists to link landsliding to deforestation. Although few data exist, loss of forest cover does appear to be related to surface erosion and gullying, and a hypothesis linking the expansion of unmanaged, eroding areas to reduced nutrient subsidies from the forest is proposed. A reconnaissance survey of sediment production and transfer mechanisms in the 122 km² Phewa Valley in the Middle Mountains of Nepal identified a variety of mass movement processes. The commonest events were shallow translational failures on slopes of, typically, 36° to 45°, with volumes ≤1 x 10³ m³ and with recovery taking less than ten years. Larger slides occurred on slopes oversteepened by fluvial action. Flows developed in areas of weak rock and unfavourable structure, and were associated with groundwater discharge. Flow velocities accelerated during the monsoon. The highly fractured and deeply weathered zones around faults were the sites of "mass movement catchments", complex failures responsible for approximately 90% of all sediment production by mass wasting in the watershed. A first estimate of surface lowering by mass movement processes in the Phewa Valley is 2-3 mm/yr. Locally, surface erosion on overgrazed pasture may be 5-6 mm/yr. No data were available on soil losses from cultivated areas, and, similarly, losses due to shallow creep, gullying and solution remain unknown. The fluvial transport system in the valley bottom is unable to transport all the material with which it is supplied. Sediment yield to the lake was not calculated owing to insufficient data. Discharge estimates and intensity-duration-frequency analysis of rainfall records indicate that in Pokhara storms of 275 mm/day have a return period of approximately 10 years. The primary controls on mass movement processes in the Middle Himalaya of Nepal are geological and climatic, and therefore are not amenable to modification by man. However, surface erosion is a consequence of poor land management, and therefore can be controlled, given the right institutional environment / Forestry, Faculty of / Graduate

Background:  Earthquakes and other natural disasters have increased over recent years, more people around the world are living with disabilities. The physical therapists have an important role to increase function and restore quality of life. Although it is stated that early rehabilitation intervention is an essential part of the health response there is limited information about the work and the experiences from physical therapists.  Aim: The aim of this study is to examine physical therapists’ experiences after the earthquakes in Nepal 2015.  Design: This study had a qualitative exploratory design, based on five individual semi-structured interviews using the communication platform zoom. The data was analysed by a qualitative content analysis and had an inductive approach.   Result: The physical therapists’ describes a chaotic situation, the psychological vulnerability in patients made it challenging to motivate and keep the patients focused on their rehabilitation. The huge influx of patients made it hard for the physical therapists to manage their time and led to compromised treatments and the need of early discharge of patients. The physical therapists had dual experiences about their role in the healthcare teams. There was a clear system on how to prioritize the patients based on severity of injuries. Conclusion: This study showed that physical therapists in Nepal had an important role from acute care to follow-up after the earthquakes. The study provides an insight from physical therapists in disaster settings and may contribute to identify barriers in performing their work tasks in future disaster settings. / Bakgrund: Jordbävningar och andra naturkatastrofer har ökat de senaste åren, fler människor runt om i världen lever med kvarstående funktionshinder. Fysioterapeuterna har en viktig roll genom att öka funktionen och återställa livskvaliteten hos dessa patienter. Även om det tydligt anges att en tidig rehabiliteringsinsats är en väsentlig del av arbetet finns det begränsad information om erfarenheterna från fysioterapeuter. Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka fysioterapeuters erfarenheter efter jordbävningarna i Nepal 2015. Metod: Denna studie hade en kvalitativ utforskande design, baserad på fem individuella semistrukturerade intervjuer med hjälp av kommunikationsplattformen zoom. Data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys och hade en induktiv ansats. Resultatsammanfattning: Fysioterapeuterna beskriver en kaotisk situation, den psykologiska sårbarheten hos patienter gjorde det svårt att motivera och hålla patienterna fokuserade på deras rehabilitering. En stor tillströmning av patienter gjorde det svårt för fysioterapeuterna att hantera sin tid och detta ledde till att behandlingar behövde kompromissas och ökade behovet av tidig utskrivning av patienter. Fysioterapeuterna hade tvetydiga erfarenheter av sin roll i vårdteamet. Det fanns ett tydligt system för hur man skulle prioritera patienterna baserat på svårighetsgraden av skador. Slutsats: Denna studie visar att fysioterapeuter i Nepal hade en viktig roll för patienten efter jordbävningarna, en roll som sträcker sig från akutvården till uppföljning. Studien ger tydlig insikt i hur fysioterapeuterna upplevde sitt jobb vilket skulle kunna bidra till identifiering av hinder för fysioterapeuter i utförandet sina uppgifter vid framtida katastrofsituationer.

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