The cultural acceptance of ecological policies and consciousness of environmental change in Asian developing countries: the case of Nepal

Abstract

The contemporary global ecological crisis has led developed and developing countries to put emphasis upon the need for relevant policies, for ecological purposes, at the national and international levels. However, little attention has been payed to the local acceptance, in the cultural and social frameworks of developing countries in particular, to the worldwide spread of these new ideological and political standards. Neither to the role of traditional lifestyles in preventing or increasing the climate changes. The issue of governance and especially the chance for new social attitudes towards nature and climate can be reframed by taking into account the tension between social structures and local cultures, on the one side, international economic and ecological issues, on the other side. The case of Nepal highlights the ways collective consciousness about climate change and the corresponding “sustainable” programs are depending upon the social and cultural acceptance, especially in poor Asian countries, of these worldwide exported standards. Based upon the study of national policies in the broader context of internationalization of ecological ideas and practices, this research explores a collection of ethnographic case studies, in remote villages of Nepal – and in Asia. The methodology aims at comparing the international macroscopic level, where ecological consciousness and policies are framed and diffused, and the local microscopic level, where they are subjected to cultural absorption and social / economic adaption. Nepal, an Asian “underdeveloped” country, has adopted and attempted to apply several international standards, National planning for development and ecological issues is failing to be fully and efficiently adopted, The structure and dynamics of national administrations are the first cause for this failure, but the perception of the effects of climate change are depending also upon cultural conceptions of nature and climate, These local conditions can _both_facilitate or hinder the acceptance of international ecological standards