Two anthropologists examine the Maoists' claims of radical social transformation in the light of women's experiences on the ground. Based on fieldwork in several areas, they consider how the intersecting lines of class, caste, ethnicity, religion, gender and history shape individual women's political consciousness and motivations for enlisting as guerrilla cadre. Since Nepali Maoist models for women's "empowerment" must negotiate between overarching Maoist ideologies and the existing particularities of gender discrimination in Nepali society, there are noticeable gaps between rhetoric and practice. Ultimately, the fundamental changes in gender relations that the Maoists assert may not be the intentional result of their policies, but rather the largely unintended consequences of the conflict that emerge in relation to women's existing practice.
This position paper is intended to initiate debate on these issues as part of an ongoing process of documentation and analysis of the gender aspects of the Maoist conflict.
Of victimisation and agency
One of the most reported aspects of the Maoist 'people's war' in Nepal has been its high levels of female participation, with some observers estimating that up to 40 percent of all combatant and civilian political supporters are women. Striking photos of young, gun-toting guerrilla women are prominently displayed on the "official" Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) website, and distributed from New York to London to Peru in materials produced by the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). These images are apparently intended to serve as evidence of the movement's egalitarianism and "empowering" effects for Nepali women.