The cradle and the gun : Maoist women's experiences of motherhood in armed conflict in Nepal

This dissertation explores how Maoist women managed motherhood alongside the armed conflict waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-CPN). I conducted semistructured in-depth interviews with ten Maoist mothers. Four had become mothers during the conflict period (1996-2006) with the remaining six becoming mothers after the 2006 Nepalese Government and Maoist peace agreement. My findings show that Maoist women experienced motherhood as resonating between two different patriarchal structures: the CPN (Maoist) party and Nepali society. As they negotiated motherhood, they developed a series of strategies to reconcile contradictory pressures on their mothering practices. On the one hand, they do not fit the conventional picture of Nepali mothers who are considered passive, caring and nurturing. Their involvement in war challenges their relationship to these normative notions of Nepali motherhood. On the other hand, their motherhood is regarded as an obstruction to the process of revolution. The propaganda of the Maoist party has led them to see their motherhood as a hindrance to revolution and their political careers. Thus, they feel the need to validate their commitment towards revolution by reforming their practices and ideas of motherhood. Their new practices and ideas may include leaving their children or being prepared to leave their children if the need for their participation in war arises.