WP 26-010: Reimagining Tamang Sovereignty: Indigenous Resurgence, the Politics of Recognition, and Plurinational Futures in Nepal

This paper examines Tamang self-determination in Nepal through the interconnected lenses of the politics of recognition, Indigenous resurgence, internal colonialism, decolonial thought, and epistemic justice. It argues that the Tamang struggle is not limited to seeking cultural recognition from the state, but involves a broader effort to regenerate nationhood through language, culture, territory, political representation, and self-government. The paper analyses this struggle across four domains: linguistic resurgence, cultural revitalisation, political aspiration, and structural constraint. It is based on a critical interpretive synthesis of existing ethnographic, historical, policy, and scholarly literature rather than new fieldwork. Its central argument is that recognition without redistribution and meaningful Indigenous self-government can leave underlying structures of inequality intact. The paper therefore advances a plurinational vision of Nepal in which Indigenous peoples such as the Tamang participate as co-constituting political communities rather than merely recognised cultural minorities.