The Nepalese Youth in the Maoist Insurgency

Abstract

During the Maoist Insurgency or 'People's War' in Nepal (1996-2006) a relatively small group of Maoists was able to mobilise a large part of the rural population in its struggle against the central government. The presence of tribal or ethnic minorities, caste-inequality and poverty in affected areas created a pool of disadvantaged people from which the Maoists were able to draw, forcefully or voluntarily, their support. In this thesis it is argued that the factor of 'youth' needs to be added to these three factors, as a demographic category of youth offers additional and important explanatory value. At the start of the war, excessive population growth was not sustained by increased food production and improvements in education were not met by increased availability of jobs or diversification of employment. As a result, being a youth meant being increasingly vulnerable to unemployment and poverty. These increasing numbers of young people, (semi-) educated but jobless in a poor environment, could more easily be convinced or coerced to participate in the insurgency.