Nimesh Dhungana is an interdisciplinary development and disaster researcher with over 10 years of research experience spanning the interplay between democratic politics, human development and disasters. His research draws on interdisciplinary scholarly debates spanning sociology and anthropology of disasters, participatory and social accountability politics, governance of disasters, and human development studies. Much of his empirical work has focused on Nepal, with a particular attention to the politics of citizen participation and social accountability in disaster risk reduction and recovery. His PhD research, completed in 2019 from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), used ethnographic and interview data to examine the politics of citizen-centric governance following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes.
Nimesh is currently leading a two-year collaborative project (September 2021-September 2023), funded by the Atlantic Equity Challenge based at International Inequalities Institute (LSE), which looks at the role of civil society activism in constructing alternative narratives of care, accountability and justice for Nepali labour migrants who are disproportionately impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. With his PhD in Social Research Methods (LSE), Nimesh is also interested in methodological, political and ethical dimensions of 'doing research' in disaster and conflict contexts. He is currently serving as a Co-Investigator in a British Academy funded collaborative and comparative research project that looks at the politics of research ethics and knowledge production in Nepal, Colombia and Balkans.
Increasingly, Nimesh’s research has also focused on the governance of disaster-resilient infrastructures in the south Asian and Himalayan region that is facing the disproportionate burden of the climate crisis. In his previous research, Nimesh has looked at the processes and impacts of community mobilisation in preventing HIV infection among female sex workers in southern India. Nimesh has worked in the academic and development sectors in Nepal, US and UK, which continue to shape his research and teaching engagements.
Qualifications:
PhD, Social Research Methods, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK
MA, International Development and Social Change, Clark University, USA
MBA, Kathmandu University School of Management, Nepal
B Com (Honours), University of Delhi, India
Methodological interests/expertise:
Ethnography of disasters and development
Participatory and action research
Ethics of disaster research