No abstract

The political economy literature on post‐disaster reconstruction tends to contrast ‘disaster capitalism’ narratives denouncing the predatory character of neoliberal rebuilding, and ‘building back better’ policies supporting market‐driven reconstruction. This article seeks to provide a more nuanced account, developing the concept of ‘disaster financialization’ through a case study of household‐level changes experienced through processes of post‐earthquake reconstruction in Nepal. The concept of disaster financialization describes not only the integration of disaster‐affected households into the cash‐based logic of reconstruction instituted by donors and government authorities, but also the financialization of their lives, social relations and subjectivities. It is a transitive process involving a shift into financialized mechanisms of disaster prevention, adaptation and recovery. Analysing contrasting experiences across three earthquake‐affected districts in Nepal, this study proposes disaster financialization as an integrative term through which to understand the simultaneous acceleration of monetization, the leveraging of cash incentives by donors and government to ‘build back better’, and the flurry of financial transactions associated with reconstruction processes. While some aspects of disaster financialization have had negative social impacts, such as debt‐related anxieties and a breakdown of voluntary labour exchanges hurting the most vulnerable, the process has taken on variegated forms, with equally variegated effects, reflecting household characteristics and interactions with financial institutions.

The global outbreak of novel corona virus has exposed a severe crisis and threat in the human security of the thousands of Nepali workers abroad. It has challenged a rather limited conception and understanding of security in the context of Nepali migrant workers and has led to rethink policies and plans about safe, dignified, and managed migration. This article seeks to identify the situations of Nepali migrant workers in major destinations such as the Persian Gulf and Malaysia and discusses the factors that shape a sense of insecurity/security and dignity among them. In this article, first, we argue that Nepali migrant workers have become vulnerable due to the challenges and risks facing them related to infection and deaths, loss of jobs and income, lack of safe and dignified repatriation, no access to essential services including food, accommodation and health, unsafe working and living situation and discrimination and ill-treatments. Second, we highlight that the government of Nepal needs to effectively regenerate and exercise its labour diplomacy to make the destination countries more accountable to their responsibilities towards labour migrants and their human rights, and equally tailor its development policies to create adequate and decent opportunities within the country.

Urban populations in South Asia are regularly exposed to poor air quality, especially elevated concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). However, the potential differential burden for the urban poor has received little attention. Here, we evaluate the links between occupation, patterns of exposure to PM2.5, and the impacts at an individual and household level for vulnerable populations in Lahore (Pakistan), Kathmandu (Nepal), and Mandalay (Myanmar). We conduct personal exposure measurements and detailed interviews, identifying a wide range of impacts at individual and household levels. Low-income populations are concentrated in occupations that expose them to higher concentrations. Individuals report a range of adverse health impacts and limited capacities to reduce exposure. The lost income, compounded with the costs of managing these health impacts and limited opportunities for alternative employment, can deepen the socioeconomic vulnerability for the household. Reducing these risks requires targeted interventions such as improved social safety nets.

India remains the preferred destination for Nepali migrant workers. There is a freedom of movement and work to citizens of both the countries without the need of passport or visa requirements. This paper studies the impact of COVID-19 on Nepali migrants in India by employing a mixed method research approach. The imposition of nationwide lockdowns in both India and Nepal has resulted in multiple forms of impacts on migrants, revealing a complicated cross-border dynamics. Sudden enforcement of restrictive measures including lockdowns, while necessary, adversely triggered vulnerabilities and precarity onto millions of Nepali migrants in India. The lack of political and legal recognition and inadequate state policies towards social protections worsened the magnitude and severity. While immediate relief measures and safe return is necessary in the short term, it suggests revising their foreign policy, development and social security policies to address the adverse drivers that Nepali migrants have faced.