From Class Struggle to Identity Politics: Paradox in Ideology and Practice of Nepali Left Politics

Abstract

This research has gauged out how Nepali left political parties are gradually shifting from class struggle to identity politics. It has also showed the paradox of left parties so far as identity politics is concerned. Formal political documents of left parties including their Discourses on the identity politics and class struggle through News papers and Television interviews have led this dissertation to claim that they are gradually shifting from class struggle to identity politics creating a grand narrative of paradox. In fact, Nepali left political parties are shifting to identity politics by what appears to be the abandonment of the basic ideology that they have espoused long. They use their basic ideology only for identifying themselves and motivating their cadres in time of need rather applying it rigidly in practice. It leads them to abandon their basic principles on practical fronts. Their basic ideology of class struggle remains silent whereas identity politics becomes dominant. The politics of identity that became a dominant discourse during the 1990s surfaced strongly in Nepali politics after the 2006 April Movement which became more intense after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on May 27, 2012. The CA apparently got dissolved after political parties failed to make consensus on identity-based federalism. So, the issue of identity remains a bone of contention among parties, which widens polarization with possible long-run impacts in the national politics. Actually, identity politics always hangs in between rights and recognition where it tilts more to the latter. Political parties can neither oppose nor support identity politics openly on the pretext of ballot box politics, which leads them to follow the principle of "if you cannot convince them, confuse them". The result is they hang in the 'in-between situation' regarding identity-based federalism. Federalism becomes more vulnerable where identity politics persists since identity politics, on practical fronts, tends to give second priority to the rights of 55 the marginalized communities in the name of focusing on identity. If identity politics is for evoking sense of rights to the exploited and the marginalized, it will focus the most on the issues of the oppressed Dalits since there is no one who meets the degree of oppression in Nepal than a Dalit. Nepali left political parties which claim themselves as heir to class struggle gradually succumb to identity politics without any strong ideological basis. Undoubtedly, economic backwardness of some identity groups can be attributed to the identity-based oppression especially on language and culture. Identity will be used as a tool for counter mobilization if there are oppression based on it. Therefore, identity should neither be a basis for oppression nor a mere tool for a ballot-box politics.