Mahendra Lawoti, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Political Science, Western Michigan University

When Friday April 26, 2013

Where L 280 Kennedy School of Govt 79 JFK ST

The Constituent Assembly was constituted in 2008 largely due to the demands of the Maoists and as a pathway to settle the decade long violent conflict but the assembly failed to deliver a Constitution ironically not over disagreements on class issues but over increasingly contested federal models that would recognize or reject identities of, and autonomy toward, marginalized identity groups. The presentation will discuss the contested federal models and the notions of ethnicity and identity deployed in the public domain, and argue that the failure to follow democratic processes was the proximate cause behind the failure to produce a new Constitution. The presentation will also discuss the possible scenarios of possibility of crafting a new Constitution by the proposed second CA. 

Mahendra Lawoti has conducted research on democratization, political institutions, ethnic politics, and socio-political mobilizations in Nepal and South Asia and he has authored, co-authored, edited and co-edited ten books and published numerous journal articles, book chapters and opinion pieces. His book Towards a Democratic Nepal: Inclusive Political Institutions for a Multicultural Society (Sage 2005) was reprinted multiple times and translated into Nepali. His recent publications include Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Nepal (London: Routledge; 2012; co-edited) and Government and Politics in South Asia (seventh edition, Boulder, CO: Westview Press; forthcoming July 2013; co-authored). Dr. Lawoti joined Western Michigan University in 2005 on a tenure track position, received tenure (associate professor) in 2008 and became a full professor in 2011.