Internal Fragmentation Leads Network-building: Insights from Nepal’s Land Rights Protest

Details

13 April 2025/३१ चैत्त २०८१ (आइतबार, दिउँसो ३ बजे)
Research Seminar Series
Internal Fragmentation Leads Network-building: Insights from Nepal’s Land Rights Protest

Ram Gurung
Independent Researcher/PhD Scholar in Sociology, Tribhuvan University
and Teaching Faculty, Saraswati Multiple Campus, Tribhuvan University
 

Abstract:
Prevalent network theories—particularly those that are event-based in the global north and lack contextual specificity— often equate social movements with mobilization, with emphasis on the role of both formal and informal organizational networks, built by using existing social relations. However, these theories overlook the underlying socio-political and economic forces that compel movements to build and expand these networks. These theories not only conceptualize network-building as primarily inter-organizational reciprocities of resource mobilization- mostly informal and implicit- but they also interpret the networks the social movement build as outcomes of collective grassroots organized internal efforts. This theoretical shortcoming fails to account for contextual internal variations in network-building within social movements, as illustrated by cases like the Khokana land rights protest in Nepal. The grounded experiences drawn from open-ended, in-depth interviews with Newars— who were deprived of land due to government land acquisition for the construction of the Tarai-Kathmandu expressway in Khokana, Lalitpur—reveal that internal divisions act as catalysts for network-building; however, these insights remain insufficient to capture the complex internal dynamics of the protest. Internal fragmentation—like divergent perception on land compensation—rather than mere obvious cohesion, compels the social movement to seek influential allies through outward horizontal expansion and upward connections to build and expand its network. While the movement builds horizontal networks, it also forms upward vertical connections to create downward influences on policy change. These insights expand network theories—multilevel network-building—by incorporating internal fragmentation while recognizing grassroots social movement cohesive entities.