Rural transformation in Nepal is characterized by accelerating out-migration, along with shifting aspirations for becoming “developed” or “modern,” which are associated with urban and foreign infrastructure and consumption. In this context, I examine how convenience practices and technologies interact with the social processes of migration and how they together impact people's life choices and produce socioenvironmental and health consequences. Using the term dependent convenience, I argue that “dependency” and “convenience” are two sides of the same coin. Dependent convenience operates by (a) shifting tastes and norms across generations, (b) perpetuating reliance on labor out-migration and undermining subsistence production, and (c) producing new environmental and health consequences, the resolution of which is in turn dependent on a range of other yet-to-be-developed supporting infrastructure. The study shows that the development of market economy and convenience technologies drives entangled, path-dependent processes that ultimately undermine socioenvironmental sustainability. A focus on convenience offers a new perspective to illustrate the entanglement of social, economic, technological, and ecological processes in rural Nepal. The study aims to validate or reaffirm the necessity of grassroots interventions for reorienting development toward meaningfully addressing local needs and sustainability.

中文翻译：

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依赖便利：尼泊尔达克辛卡利的移民、土地变化和社会生态可持续性

尼泊尔农村转型的特点是外迁加速，以及与城市和外国基础设施和消费相关的“发达”或“现代”愿望的转变。在这种背景下，我研究了便利实践和技术如何与移民的社会过程相互作用，以及它们如何共同影响人们的生活选择并产生社会环境和健康后果。使用术语依赖便利，我认为“依赖”和“便利”是同一枚硬币的两个方面。依赖便利的运作方式是 (a) 跨代改变口味和规范，(b) 长期依赖劳动力外流并破坏自给自足的生产，以及 (c) 产生新的环境和健康后果，而解决这些后果又取决于一系列其他尚未开发的配套基础设施。研究表明，市场经济和便利技术的发展推动了相互纠缠、路径依赖的过程，最终破坏了社会环境的可持续性。对便利的关注提供了一个新的视角来说明尼泊尔农村社会、经济、技术和生态过程的纠缠。