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kesearch report: C|v|| Soc|ety and Cyber-Act|v|sm |n Nepa|

A three months study of Nepa| Un|tes and Come Cn outh Stand Up, two c|v||
soc|ety act|v|sm organ|zat|on.

As parL of my soclo-anLhropology masLer classes aL Lhe 8ene uescarLes
unlverslLy of arls, l conducLed a research on Lhe noLlon of clvll socleLy ln nepal. ln
Lhe Lhree-monLhs Llme l had, l couldn'L Lackle Lhe whole Lheme of clvll socleLy ln
nepal. 1hus l declded Lo concenLraLe on Lwo lacebook acLlvlsm groups: nepal unlLes
and Come Cn ?ouLh SLand up. 1hls cholce leaves ouL of my sLudy a whole parL of Lhls
very acLlve clvll socleLy, whlch ls now growlng ln nepal. noneLheless, Lhanks Lo all
Lhe acLlvlsLs who very klndly helped me Lhrough my work, l was able Lo explore Lhls
lacebook AcLlvlsm. lL ls a very recenL phenomenon of Lhe clvll socleLy acLlvlsm
LhroughouL Lhe world. WlLh Lhls work, l wlshed Lo explore Lhls very large noLlon of
Clvll SocleLy. lL ls a noLlon LhaL ls used and over-used ln many dlfferenL senses and, ln
Lhe end, no one really knows whaL lL means. ln a general sense, Lhe clvll socleLy" ls
whaL ls noL Lhe SLaLe, noL Lhe church (or any rellglous lnsLlLuLlons) nor Lhe economlc
markeL sphere. lL ls ln-beLween". 1he noLlon of Lhe clvll socleLy covers Lherefore a
very vague and large fleld". lL does noL correspond Lo a deLermlnaLe nor preclse
reallLy. WlLh Lhls research, l wanLed Lo sLudy a reallLy of Lhe clvll socleLy: an
appllcaLlon of Lhls noLlon.
l conducLed my research accordlng Lo Lhe prlnclples of classlcal soclo-
anLhropology surveys. All Lhe resulLs were used Lo wrlLe a Lhesls where all Lhe people
who were lnLervlewed are kepL anonymous. 1hls Lhesls was wrlLLen ln lrench and ls
now kepL ln Lhe 8ene uescarLes unlverslLy of arls. As an exLernal observer, l Lrled Lo
keep a neuLral vlew of Lhe Lwo groups l was sLudylng. Many of Lhe lnLervlewed
acLlvlsLs asked me Lo glve a feedback Lo Lhe group, Lo be able Lo glve some advlces. l
do noL preLend l have all Lhe answers nor LhaL my advlces wlll be revoluLlonary. l wlll
[usL Lry and do my besL. l owe Lhls feedback Lo all Lhe people who helped me
LhroughouL my research. lL ls also a way Lo puL an end Lo my research, Lo pack Lhlngs
up.

1o conducL my research, l declded Lo use dlfferenL meLhods and cross Lhe
daLa ln order Lo have a broader vlew of Lhe sub[ecL. 1he flrsL Lwo meLhodologles l
used where parLlclpaLory observaLlons and lnformal lnLervlews. lor Lhe flrsL parL, l
wanLed Lo aLLend group meeLlngs and acLlons. My sLay ln nepal unforLunaLely Look
place durlng Lhe wrong perlod: lL was durlng a Llme when Lhe groups were
hlbernaLlng" and only Lhree acLlons Look place. Moreover, l was noL able Lo aLLend
any meeLlng of Lhe groups, Lherefore, l had Lo redeflne my meLhodologles. l
concenLraLed more on lnLervlewlng some members of Lhe groups and dolng some
blog analysls. 1hese Lwo Lypes of sources gave me access Lo very dlfferenL seLs of
daLa. 1hls allowed me Lo wlden my vlew of groups and Lo deepen my sLudy.
l had Lhe ldea of havlng a Lhlrd source: l launched an onllne quesLlonnalre ln
order Lo collecL some sLaLlsLlcal daLa. 1hls would have allowed me Lo have a general
overvlew of who ls acLlve ln Lhese groups. unforLunaLely, Lhls was a fallure. 1he
quesLlonnalre wasn'L well recelved by Lhe groups. uesplLe Lhe supporL of a few of
Lhe acLlvlsLs, some members of groups were openly hosLlle Lo Lhls ldea and declded
#
Lo ban me from Lhe groups. 1hls hosLlllLy ls easlly undersLandable: aparL for Lhe few
members l lnLervlewed, no one really knew me and some people where maybe
afrald of whaL an unknown person would do wlLh Lhls daLa. As Lhere were no general
meeLlngs of Lhe groups, l dldn'L have an opporLunlLy Lo presenL myself physlcally Lo
all Lhe members.
ln Lhe end, l had a good general overvlew of Lhe groups. Powever, Lhe fallure
of Lhe sLaLlsLlcal approach, comblned wlLh Lhe near-excluslve use of lacebook as Lhe
mean of organlzlng Lhe groups made lL dlfflculL Lo grasp Lhe reallLy of Lhe groups
and, for a Llme, my analysls could only sLay parLlal. uslng soclal neLwork Lools such as
lacebook ln order Lo organlze a clvll socleLy acLlvlsm ls a new phenomenon and Lhe
soclal sclenLlsL ls a llLLle losL when confronLed Lo such a slLuaLlon. 1he classlcal
anLhropologlcal meLhodologles cannoL work and Lhe researcher has Lo adapL hls
meLhods and hls proLocols Lo Lhls pecullar reallLy. 1hls, ln lLself, ls very challenglng
and sLlmulaLed me.

1he use of lacebook as a Lool for acLlvlsm doesn'L go wlLhouL consequences
on Lhe lnLernal organlzaLlon of Lhe groups as lL lmplles a parLlcular sLrucLure ln Lhe
soclal exchanges. llrsL of all, especlally ln Lhe nepall conLexL, Lhls lmplles LhaL Lhe
acLlve members ln nepal unlLes and Come Cn ?ouLh SLand up wlll all be from slmllar
soclo-economlcal backgrounds. 1he use of lacebook as Lhe sole mean of
organlzaLlon homogenlzes Lhe groups and guaranLees a muLual comprehenslon (as
much ln Lerms of language and of culLure) beLween Lhe members. 1hls ls of course
an advanLage ln Lerms of organlzaLlon buL lL mlghL hamper Lhe group's developmenL
and growLh. Moreover, because of Lhe lack of soclal and pollLlcal dlverslLy amldsL Lhe
groups, Lhe pollLlcal debaLes mlghL end up golng ln clrcles wlLhouL a dlfflculLy Lo
renew Lhe ldeas. 1hls effecL of Lhe use of lacebook should be Laken lnLo
conslderaLlon when a group wlshes Lo conducL an acLlon ln Lhe soclal and pollLlcal
fleld. Cne way of overcomlng Lhls negaLlve consequence would be Lo furLher
develop awareness campalgns for Lhe larger publlc.
lurLhermore, nepal unlLes and Come Cn ?ouLh SLand are groups who seem
Lo be lacklng a sLrong maLerlal dlmenslon: wlLhouL any general meeLlngs beLween
Lhe members Lo organlze acLlons or Lo debaLe on general ldeas, Lhere ls a danger of
Lhe groups crumbllng. As a soclal medla, lacebook makes lL lmposslble Lo have any
sponLaneous dlscusslon or debaLe, every exchange ls fllLered, medlaLlzed. 1hls has a
real, observable consequence on soclal exchanges: Lhe glven word on lacebook does
noL have Lhe same value as Lhe glven word ln real llfe". As Lhe exchange ls
medlaLlzed on lacebook, lL ls easler for a person Lo say l wlll come" Lo an evenL
and, ln facL, noL come. 1he soclal value of Lhe glven word ls weaker Lhan lf Lhe
organlzer of Lhe evenL asks dlrecLly anoLher member Lo come: Lhe relaLlon changes,
lL ls weakened because lL ls medlaLlzed and noL sponLaneous. ln addlLlon, Lhe
admlnlsLraLors of Lhe groups or oLher members can easlly conLrol Lhe exchanges
wlLhln Lhe groups. 1hus, Lhe democraLlc funcLlonlng ls noL guaranLeed. 1he
admlnlsLraLors are noL democraLlcally chosen and Lhey have a very large power as
Lhey can censor some members wlLhouL any [usLlflcaLlon. Whlle l was worklng on Lhe
groups, an admlnlsLraLor, wlLhouL any glven reason, expelled a member from Lhe
group. Many oLher members and admlnlsLraLors were ouLraged by Lhls declslon and
$
Lrled Lo go agalnsL lL. 1hls could be avolded lf Lhe groups were Lo reorganlze Lhelr
lnLernal modes of funcLlonlng ln a more democraLlc way.
nepal unlLes and Come Cn ?ouLh SLand up acL as plaLforms where dlfferenL
clLlzens can express Lhelr vlews on currenL pollLlcal and soclal evenLs. lacebook ls
used as a mean Lo creaLe a vlrLual space of clvll socleLy where lndlvlduals can exlsL as
clLlzen when Lhe pollLlcal slLuaLlon of nepal ls Lensed. Powever, lL seems LhaL Lhere
ls a real dlfflculLy of Lransformlng Lhls vlrLual" clvll socleLy lnLo a serles of real
acLlons ln socleLy. 1he exLernal vlslblllLy of Lhe groups seems Lo be sufferlng from
Lhls: Lhe dlscourses held by Lhe groups are very dlverse and suffer from a lack of
unlLy. 1he values lauded by Lhe group aren'L clear enough and so dlfferenL clLlzens
Lalk abouL dlfferenL Lhlngs. lor example, durlng Lhe lnLervlews, l ofLen asked abouL
whaL was meanL by clLlzenshlp" and Lhe answers were all dlfferenL. lL could be
beneflclal lf all Lhe members of nepal unlLes and Come Cn ?ouLh SLand up would
gaLher up and debaLe abouL Lhese values whlch seem Lo be obvlous buL whlch
acLually need Lo be sLrucLured and concepLuallzed so LhaL every one Lalks abouL Lhe
same Lhlng. 1hls would also allow Lhe groups Lo be undersLood by Lhe general
oplnlon and lL would Lhus enhance Lhe groups' soclal and pollLlcal vlslblllLy.

nepal unlLes and Come Cn ?ouLh SLand up are greaL lnlLlaLlves, Lhey are a
proof LhaL lndlvldual clLlzens can organlze Lhemselves and creaLe a space of debaLe,
a plaLform Lo organlze acLlons and meeL new people. 1he Lwo groups are very good
examples of whaL a clvll socleLy lnlLlaLlve can be. WhaL ls more, Lhe use of soclal
neLworks and lnLerneL Lools ln general, Lo organlze a clvll socleLy movemenL ls a very
modern and lnLeresLlng lnlLlaLlve. lL does lmply a real quesLlonlng on Lhls medla and
lL's uses buL lL ls a powerful Lool whlch ls more and more presenL ln Lhe acLlvlsL
sphere all around Lhe world.