Contextualising Disaster Aftermath

The earthquakes that hit central Nepal on 25 April and 12 May 2015 resulted in the loss of lives and livelihoods in 14 severely affected and another 17 neighbouring districts. With 9,000 people killed and approximately 10% of Nepal’s population in need of humanitarian assistance, these earthquakes disproportionately affected the poor and those in remote rural ­locations. Beyond the immediate suffering and humanitarian response aesthetically presented and circulated in international media, the aftermath of the earthquake has been characterised by challenges and aspirations for rebuilding and reconstruc­ting the damaged inf­rastructures, lives, and livelihoods. Epicentre to Aftermath: Rebuilding and Remembering in the Wake of Nepal’s Earthquakes aims to capture the context of the disaster’s aftermath that is characte­rised not only by physical reconstruction but also by people seeking to build new lives, meanings, social relations, and memories in the face of state action (or non-action) and outpouring external aid to support the recovery process. The narratives are also laid out in the context of another Herculean task of “state restructuring” following the decade-long Maoist insurgency (1996–2005) and protracted political transition that followed Nepal’s peace process since 2006.

Varieties of Perspectives