The rhetoric of return: Mingma or the contradictions of development in Nepal

Abstract

Studying in the city or abroad and returning later to contribute to the village's development is the idea underlying what we consider as the rhetoric of return, a polysemic concept that is central to both development and educational discourses in Nepal. The case of Mingma, a Sherpa girl raised in Sikkim, and her experience of returning to her family village of Gaun (Nepal), problematizes this notion. Her narrative enables us to understand the negotiations arising from her ideals about development, her role as a teacher, and her relationships with the villagers. Findings show the link between mobility and knowledge regimes in Nepal, and demonstrate the relevance of a gender perspective in the mobility-development nexus and its contradictions.