Constitutional Nationalism and Legal Exclusion — Equality, Identity Politics, and Democracy in Nepal (1990-2007)

This book is a detailed case study of Nepal's post-1990 constitutional experience. It examines the complex relationship between law and politics, and emphasizes the role of cultural identity in making institutional choices relating to the framing and implementation of the Nepali Constitution. The volume also analyzes the patterns of legal exclusion that resulted in the growing politicization of identity, the de-legitimization of the 1990 Constitution, and the current demand for state-restructuring based on ethnic federalism and group rights.

The author, tracing the evolution of Nepal from a constitutional monarchy to a republic, analyzes the drafting of the 1990 Constitution, the impact of the Maoist insurgency (1996-2006) on demands for constitutional change, the relationship between conflict and demands for recognition, and the role of Nepal's Supreme Court in the articulation of identity politics.

Based on pathbreaking research, this volume would be immensely useful to scholars, teachers, and students of law, politics, and international relations.

Mara Malagodi is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science.