Nepal, Oct. 15 -- Sara Shneiderman is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology and School of Public Policy & Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada. She also holds the Ivan Head South-North IDRC Chair and has spent more than three decades working with communities across Nepal and the Himalayas.

Her research explores how political change, migration, development and disasters shape people's lives, identities and relationships with the state.

In this conversation with the Post's Anish Ghimire, she reflects on Nepal's transformation since the 1990s, the promises and limits of federalism, the changing patterns of migration and the need to listen to local communities when shaping public p...