From a Trickle to a Torrent: Education, Migration, and Social Change in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal

247 Pages·2019·58.094 MB·English

by  Geoff Childs, Namgyal Choedup

From a Trickle
to a Torrent
Education, Migration, and Social Change
in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal
Geoff Childs
Namgyal Choedup
university of california press
From a Trickle to a Torrent

From a Trickle
to a Torrent
Education, Migration, and Social Change
in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal
Geoff Childs
Namgyal Choedup
university of california press
University of California Press, one of the most
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University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2019 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Childs, Geoff H., 1963- author. | Choedup,
Namgyal, author.
Title: From a trickle to a torrent : education, migration,
and social change in a Himalayan valley of Nepal /
Geoff Childs and Namgyal Choedup.
Description: Oakland, California : University of
California Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical
references and index. |
Identifi ers: lccn 2018017682 (print) | lccn 2018027762
(ebook) | isbn 9780520971219 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520299511 (cloth : alk. paper) |
isbn 9780520299528 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: lcsh: Education—Social aspects—Nepal—
Nubri. | Social change—Nepal—Nubri. | Educational
mobility—Nepal—Nubri.
Classifi cation: lcc lc191.8.n35 (ebook) |
lcc lc191.8.n35 c55 2019 (print) |
ddc 306.43095496—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017682
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
We dedicate this book to the young people
of Nubri.
Apply your education with wisdom and
compassion, for the future of an extraordinary
society will soon be in your hands.

Contents
List of Illustrations x
List of Tables xii
Acknowledgments xiii
1. Predicaments, Presumptions, and Procedures 1
An Empty Nest 1
The Enduring Yet Ephemeral Village 5
Managing the Family through Migration 8
Studying Longitudinal Change 12
The Household as a Unit of Analysis 15
2. Moving In before Moving Out 20
A Peripheral Region of Darkness 20
Excavating the Ethnic Strata 22
The Center Comes to the Periphery 23
Completing the Buddhist Transformation 30
Conquest and Indirect Rule 33
Continuity amid Political Change 36
Contemporary Convulsions 38
3. Embedding the Household in the Village 41
Rituals of Protection 41
The Household in Demography, Anthropology, and Nubri 43
Binding Households through Religious Cooperation 47
Liturgy, Income, and Mobility 51
4. Whither the Young People? 55
Portents of a Barley Harvest 55
Tibetan Exiles and the Emergence of Migration Pull Factors 57
The Demography of Supply and Demand 59
The Pathways and Magnitude of Outmigration 67
5. Becoming Monks 70
Family Obligations versus Religious Aspirations 70
Between Ontological Realms 72
On the Merits of Monastic Migration 75
Childhood Inclinations and Monastic Migration 77
Religious Networks and Migration Destinations 81
The Revival of Mass Monasticism 85
6. Becoming Nuns 89
The Nun Serves Her Family 89
From Servant (yogmo) to Disciple (lobma) 91
Pathways to Celibacy 94
Gender and the Precariousness of Virtue 96
Demise of the Village Nun? 97
7. Becoming Students 100
The Son Goes First 100
Educating Nubri Children: A Fitful Start 103
Valuing Education 106
The Effi cacy of Strong and Weak Ties 111
Reproducing Inequality? 113
8. The Household Succession Quandary 116
A Monk Returns 116
The Educated Son Conundrum 117
The Educated Daughter Dilemma 120
Unbecoming Monks 124
Monks and the Evolving Family Management Strategy 129
9. The Transformative Potential of Educational Migration 132
The Lama Goes, the Lama Returns 132
Independent Child Migration and Fosterage 134
Educational Migration and Demographic Change 138
Marital Endogamy and the Margins of Choice 142
Marriage and the Misappropriation of Modernity 144
10. Nubri Futures? 152
Vacating the Realm of Religious Practitioners 152
The Predicament of Aging 154
From Householder Lamas to Celibate Monks 159
The Communal Obligation Impasse 162
Disembedding the Younger Generation 164
Parting Thoughts 170
Appendix: The Population of Nubri 177
Notes 179
Glossary of Tibetan Terms 199
References 205
Index 225