4 - Technology to Resist Change: Cyberspace Intimately Connects Villagers in Kathmandu Valley with their Families Abroad

Internet penetration in Nepal has exploded over the past decade. The ratio of Internet subscriptions to the total population rose from 2.6% in 2009 to 15.2% in 2012, and up to 97.4% in 2022. This presentation will examine how the growth of the Internet in Nepal has brought about drastic changes to the research village located on the outskirts of Kathmandu. It has changed the flow of information to and from the village. In the village, people use the Internet most when communicating with family and friends living abroad. Ten years ago, for most villagers the only practical way to contact family members abroad was to make an international phone call at a telecom service or go to an Internet café. Today, villagers can easily contact family members abroad from their home. Replicating the intimate communication that took place on a daily basis before members of their family emigrated, villagers routinely connect with family living abroad through video calls. And those who live abroad participate in rituals such as festivals and the weddings of relatives through videophone broadcasts. Based on these examples from the research village, this presentation will examine changes in village life brought about by the Internet as well as the values and norms the emigrants and their families are attempting to preserve through their use of the Internet.