Paper short abstract:

With an intensification of capitalist valorization based on rising numbers of superfluous labor populations, rural youth in Nepal find 'employment' in Maoist communes which changes relations of labor and hierarchical differentiations.

Paper long abstract:

The paper explores the mobilization of youth cadres to Maoist communes in post-war Nepal and traces the rural-urban linkages as well as the experiences of capitalist exploitation that brought people into the Maoist fold. Against the background of precariat lives in urban Kathmandu based on acute forms of inequality, the paper explores forms of differentiation within the Maoist movement and the kind of protectionism and stability participation offers over precariat livelihoods. I argue that this can be understood as a form of political proletarianization, a fixity of the class position of new cadres backed by institutional stability and that despite clear differentiation between members, this form of hierarchized political inclusion offers a respite and pedagogical correction to capitalist forms of hierarchy.