| ID | 152970 |
| Title Proper | Bordering spaces, practising borders |
| Other Title Information | fences, roads and reorientations across a Nepal–China borderland |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Murton, Galen |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Infrastructure developments across the trans-Himalaya have rapidly advanced Nepali and Chinese state presences across spaces where central governance has long been absent. This study examines how new border infrastructures of fences and roads shape commercial and cultural relationships between Mustang (Nepal) and Tibet and the ways in which these processes serve state-making purposes for both Nepal and China through the governance of highland–borderland landscapes. A Tibetan cultural region at Nepal's northern border, Mustang's human and physical geography supports trade corridors that link the Tibetan Plateau with the plains of India. Merchants, mendicants and militaries have traversed these trade routes for centuries, giving rise to a unique social landscape that largely transcends modern demarcations of a bordered world. Looking across the trans-Himalaya, this article argues that as Chinese and Nepali authorities introduce new material structures and institutional practices to regulate and solidify the border between Tibet and Mustang, local communities are alternatively oriented towards either Kathmandu or Beijing under shifting terms of economic and political power. |
| `In' analytical Note | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies Vol. 40, No.2; Jun 2017: p.239-255 |
| Journal Source | South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 2017-06 40, 2 |
| Key Words | Borders ; China ; Tibet ; Nepal ; Himalaya ; Commerce ; Roads ; Mountains ; Mustang |