Korob, kaud, klach: In search of agency in rural Cambodia

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies

Volumn 37, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 507-526

  Öjendal, Joakim ^a   Sedara, Kim ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GOTHENBURG   (Sweden)

^b Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI)   (Cambodia)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEMOCRATIZATION; LOCAL GOVERNMENT; POLITICAL CHANGE; POLITICAL DISCOURSE; RURAL AREA; RURAL POLITICS;

ASIA; CAMBODIA; EURASIA; SOUTHEAST ASIA;

EID: 33748289415     PISSN: 00224634     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0022463406000762     Document Type: Article

References (109)

1. 'Respect, admiration, fear' - a greeting every Cambodian recognises and uses, typically in addressing state authorities
2. see below for a discussion.
3. David Chandler, A history of Cambodia (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1983)
4. Michael Vickery, Kampuchea: Economics, politics and society (London: Pinter/Rienner, 1986)
5. Marie Alexandrine Martin, Cambodia: A shattered society (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994)
6. Serge Thion, Watching Cambodia (Bangkok: White Lotus, 1993)
7. Thion, 'What is the meaning of "community" in Cambodia?', Cambodia Development Review, 3, 3 (1999): 12-13
8. Judy Ledgerwood, 'Rural development in Cambodia: The view from the village', in Cambodia and the international community: The quest for peace, development, and democracy, ed. Frederick Z. Brown and David G. Timberman (New York and Singapore: Asia Society and ISEAS, 1998), pp. 127-48
9. Jan Ovesen, Ing-Britt Trankell and Joakim Öjendal, When every household is an island: Social organisation and power structures in rural Cambodia (Uppsala: Uppsala University Department of Cultural Anthropology, 1996)
10. Ovesen, 'Political violence in Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge "genocide"', in No peace no war: An anthropology of contemporary armed conflicts, ed. Paul Richards (Athens, OH and Oxford: Ohio University Press and James Currey, 2005), pp. 22-39.
11. Ibid.,
12. and David Chandler, 'The burden of Cambodia's past', in Brown and Timberman ed., Cambodia and the international community, pp. 33-48.
13. World Bank, Legal and judicial reform mission: Aide-memoire (Phnom Penh: World Bank, 2004)
14. see also Peter Blunt and Mark Turner, 'Decentralisation, democracy and development in a post-conflict society: Commune councils in Cambodia', in Public Administration and Development, 25 (2005): 75-87.
15. Willem van de Put, 'An assessment of the community in Cambodia', unpublished mimeograph (Phnom Penh, 1997)
16. Fabienne Luco, Between the tiger and the crocodile: A social anthropological approach to traditional and new practices of management of local conflicts in Cambodia (UNESCO Report, 2003)
17. Chandler, 'Burden of Cambodia's past'
18. United Nations Development Program, Lessons learned in crises and post-conflict situation: The role of UNDP in reintegration and reconstruction programmes (New York: UNDP, 2002)
19. Seanglim Bit, The warrior heritage: A psychological perspective of Cambodian trauma (El Cerrito, CA: The author, 1991)
20. and Suzannah Linton, Reconciliation in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Documentation Centre of Cambodia, 2004).
21. Joakim Öjendal, 'Decentralisation as political commodity in Cambodia', in Southeast Asian responses to globalisation: Restructuring governance and deepening democracy, ed. Francis Loh Kok Wah and Öjendal (Copenhagen: NIAS, 2005), pp. 287-315
22. Kim Sedara, 'Reciprocity: Informal patterns of social interactions in a village near Angkor Park, Cambodia' (M.A. thesis, Northern Illinois University, 2001)
23. John McAndrew, 'Experiences of Commune Councils in promoting participatory local governance' (Phnom Penh: Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, 2004)
24. Caroline Rusten et al., The challenges of the decentralisation design in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Cambodia Development Research Institute, 2004)
25. Robin Biddulph, PAT empowerment study - final report (Phnom Penh: Partnership for Local Government, 2003).
26. Ernesto Bautista, Sak Setha and Prum Sokha, 'Decentralizing the state', paper presented at the Second International Conference on Decentralisation, Manila, 25-27 July 2002
27. Christine Mansfield and Kurt MacLeod, Commune Council and civil society: Promoting decentralisation through partnership (Phnom Penh: Private Agency for Collaborating Together [PACT], 2004)
28. Caroline Hughes and Kim Sedara, A study of conflict resolution mechanisms in relation to the national elections in 2003 (Phnom Penh: Cambodia Development Research Institute Working Paper Number 30, 2004)
29. Royal Government of Cambodia, 'Administrative reform and good governance', in Consultative group meeting on Cambodia, Paris, 24-26 May 2000, vol. I.
30. For an example of this assumption see Martin, Cambodia: A shattered society.
31. Anthony Giddens, The constitution of society: Outline of the theory of structuration (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1984)
32. see also Berth Danermark et al., Att förklara samhället [To explain society] (Lund: Studentlitteratur, 1997).
33. 'Seila' ('foundation stone') is a programme for channelling donor foods through local government for community-based projects. Hugh Evans, Strategic evaluation of CARERE (Stockholm: Swedish International Development Agency, 2000)
34. Jan Rudengren and Joakim Öjendal, Learning by doing: An analysis of the Seila experience in Cambodia (Stockholm: Swedish International Development Agency, Department of Natural Resources, 2002). The statement that democratic procedures are 'in place' does not carry any value judgement on the quality and depth of the democratic process or on the nature of these political institutions. For treatment of these issues, see David W. Roberts, Political transition in Cambodia 1991-99: Power elitism and democracy (London: Curzon, 2001)
35. Pierre P. Lizee, Peace, power and resistance in Cambodia: Global governance and the failure of international conflict resolution (London: Macmillan, 2000)
36. Caroline Hughes, The political economy of Cambodia's transition, 1991-2001 (London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003)
37. and Sorpong Peou, Intervention and change in Cambodia: Towards democracy? (Singapore and Bangkok: ISEAS and Silkworm Books, 2000). Similarly, the discussion below does not engage the question of whether decentralisation is being successfully implemented or not. We assume, however, that there has been a movement towards democracy over the last decade and that decentralisation reform exerts pressure for change locally.
38. See Öjendal, 'Decentralisation as political commodity'.
39. Kingdom of Cambodia Ministry of Interior [henceforth MoI], 'Reform of sub-national governance: Draft policy framework paper and way forward', mimeographed document, 2004
40. Blunt and Turner, 'Decentralisation'.
41. The statement on the overall objective of decentralisation is from Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng's remarks at the National Symposium on Decentralisation and Local Governance, Phnom Penh, 15-16 May 2002. Although democracy as such has taken root in terms of free multiparty elections, the system of party lists makes it difficult to 'punish' individuals through the ballot. Indirectly, however, the party to which an unpopular councillor belongs can be punished. As happened in the first election in 2002, it is thus likely that a party will remove candidates who are foreseen to deter voters.
42. For an overview of the issues and objectives see David Ayres, Decentralisation: A review of literature (Phnom Penh: Commune Council Support Project, 2001). At this point a distinction needs to be made between, on the one hand, our belief that there will be some sort of change occurring whereby local actors will be given increased democratic space and, on the other, the possibility that the optimal justification for the reform may be entirely different as seen from the strategic and political actors' point of view (see Öjendal, 'Decentralisation as political commodity'). This does, however, not alter the above reasoning.
43. Ian Mabbett and David Chandler, The Khmers (Bangkok: Silkworm Books, 1995), p. 164
44. Chandler, 'Burden of Cambodia's past', p. 44.
45. Rusten et al., Challenges and McAndrew, 'Experiences of Commune Councils'
46. Marita Eastmond and Joakim Öjendal, The role of the commune in participatory development in rural Cambodia (Stockholm: Swedish International Development Authority, 1999)
47. Öjendal, 'Decentralisation as political commodity'
48. and Ayres, Decentralisation: A review.
49. MoI, 'Reform', p. 5.
50. Robert L. Rothstein, After the peace: Resistance and reconciliation (London: Rienner, 1999)
51. Andrew Rigby, Justice and reconciliation after the violence (London: Rienner, 2001)
52. Jean-Paul Lederach, Building peace. Sustainable reconciliation in divided societies (Washington: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1997)
53. Anthony Giddens, Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991).
54. Grant Curtis, Cambodia reborn? The transition to democracy and development (Geneva: United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, 1998)
55. Ovesen et al., When every household
56. Chandler, 'Burden of Cambodia's past'.
57. On problems related to 'ontological insecurity' see van de Put, 'Assessment', and Luco, Between the tiger.
58. Hughes and Kim, Study of conflict resolution.
59. Judy Ledgerwood and John Vijghen, 'Decision-making in rural Khmer villages', in Cambodia emerges from the past: Eight essays, ed. Judy Ledgerwood (DeKalb, IL: Northern Illinois University, 2002), pp. 109-50. 'K-5' was a massive attempt at physically clearing the forest and erecting fences in order to get the upper hand in the civil war
60. Margaret Slocomb, 'The K5 gamble: National defence and nation building under the People's Republic of Kampuchea', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 32, 2 (2001): 195-210.
61. Eastmond and Öjendal, Role of the commune.
62. Joel Charny, 'Issues for decentralized planning and financing of rural development in Cambodia', Regional Development Dialogue, 20, 2 (1999): 176-94.
63. Caroline Hughes, 'Human rights in Cambodia: International intervention and the national response' (Ph.D. diss., University of Hull, 1998).
64. Mol, Instruction No. 324, 10 May 1994, unofficial translation. For scholarly discussions of this problem, see Sorpong, Intervention and change
65. Hughes, Political economy
66. Malin Hasselskog, Local governance in transition: Villagers' perceptions and Seila's impact (Phnom Penh: CARERE, 2000)
67. Viviane Frings, 'Cambodia after decollectivisation (1989-1992)', Journal of Contemporary Asia, 24, 1 (1994): 49-66
68. and Joakim Öjendal, 'Sharing the good: Modes of managing water resources in the lower Mekong River basin' (Ph.D. diss., University of Göteborg, 2000).
69. MoI, 'Reform'.
70. Here we encounter a paradox: Decentralisation, including increased democratic space at the local level, may have been introduced in order to consolidate power on a national level for the dominant party. It may even be the case that a successful and popular decentralisation reform, if it manages to increase political participation and reduce poverty, will serve to further consolidate the power of the dominant party, a development which may not necessarily serve to deepen democracy at the national level.
71. Rusten et al., Challenges
72. Hughes and Kim, Study of conflict resolution.
73. These responses were extracted from our qualitative interviews and deemed important in that they seemed to represent generally held views among Commune Councillors. The possible representation of these attitudes is currently being followed up in a quantitative survey: Joakim Öjendal and Kim Sedara, 'Starting from below: Local democracy as a first step towards post-conflict reconstruction in Cambodia', in In search of political legitimacy in Cambodia, ed. Öjendal and Mona Lilja (Copenhagen: NIAS, forthcoming). Moreover, while regional differences can be detected, these are likely attributable mainly to the differing degrees of exposure to participatory development projects like CARERE/Seila. Finally, whereas these attitudes are common, actual practices seem to vary with the individual 'style' of a particular commune chief.
74. McAndrew, 'Experiences of Commune Councils'
75. Mansfield and MacLeod, Commune Council
76. Rusten et al., Challenges.
77. Commune chief, interview, 5 May 2004.
78. Ledgerwood, 'Rural development', pp. 144-5.
79. UNTAC was the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia between March 1992 and September 1993; it administered the first post-war elections and was an integral part of the peace process.
80. Commune chief, Kompong Speu, interview, 3 May 2004.
81. Interview, 5 May 2004.
82. Village chief, interview, 4 May 2004.
83. Mabbett and Chandler, Khmers, and Bit, Warrior heritage, give a historical perspective. Luco, Between the tiger, discusses fragmentation and Curtis, Cambodia reborn?, apathy. On the donor community see Hughes, Political economy, ch. 7.
84. Caroline Rusten and Joakim Öjendal, 'Poverty reduction through decentralisation? Lessons from elsewhere and challenges for Cambodia', Cambodia Development Review, 7, 4 (2003): 1-5.
85. On civil society see also a forthcoming study by Kim Sedara et al. to be published by the Cambodia Development Research Institute in Phnom Penh.
86. Hughes and Kim, Study of conflict resolution; the discussion of village ties is in Kim, 'Reciprocity'.
87. One village in Siem Reap had the following committees: Temple Association, School and Parents, Irrigation, Fishing, Planning and Budgeting (linked to the Commune Council), Micro-credit and a Midwife Association. In a commune in Battambang the committees included: Temple Association, Planning and Budgeting, School and Parents, Fishing (several groups), Village Development, Dry-Season Rice Cultivation, Helping the Aged and Women's Issues. In both these cases, the vast majority of these NGOs were founded in 2000 or later (Kim and Öjendal, Annual Development Review, CDRI, forthcoming). While, surprisingly, many such associations have a direct relation to the decentralisation reform, they also benefited from a gradual liberalisation from 1993 onwards.
88. Article 43 of the Law on Administration and Management of the Commune states that the Commune Council has responsibility for natural resources; however, it does not explicitly define which mandate they have, nor is it connected to any particular responsibility to maintain law and order in that sector.
89. We would like to thank Maria Stern for inspiration in this section. Maria Stern, Naming in security-construction identity: Mayan women in Guatemala on the eve of peace (Mancheston: Manchester University Press, 2004).
90. Judy Ledgerwood, 'Politics and gender: Negotiating conceptions of the ideal woman in present day Cambodia', Asia-Pacific Viewpoint, 37, 2 (1996): 142.
91. See Ledgerwood, 'Rural development'
92. and Mona Lilja, Power, resistance and women politicians in Cambodia: Discourses of emancipation (Copenhagen: NIAS, 2005).
93. The quotation is from Laura McGrew, Kate Frieson and Sambath Chan, Good governance from the ground up: Women's role in post-conflict Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Women Waging Peace, 2004), p. 26.
94. Bion Griffin, review of Michael Vickery's Society, economics, and politics in Pre-Angkor Cambodia: The 7th-8th centuries, Asian Perspectives, 40, 1 (2002): 139-43.
95. A broader discussion of the topic is in Judy Ledgerwood, 'Khmer kinship: The matriliny/matriarchy myth', Journal of Anthropological Research, 51 (1995): 257-8.
96. May Ebihara, 'A Khmer village in Cambodia' (Ph.D. diss., Columbia University, 1968)
97. Judy Ledgerwood, Analysis of the situation of women in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: UNICEF, 1992).
98. Ledgerwood, 'Khmer kinship'
99. On the alternative explanations she cites Kevin O'Sullivan, 'Concentric conformity in ancient Khmer Kinship organisation', Bulletin of the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica, 13 (1962): 87-96.
100. McGrew et al., Good governance
101. the increase in female Councillors is from Mansfield and MacLeod, Commune Council.
102. McGrew et al., Good governance.
103. Öjendal, 'Decentralisation as political commodity', based on Eastmond and Öjendal, Role of the commune.
104. Rusten et al., Challenges
105. the survey results are in McGrew et al., Good governance, p. 28.
106. Interview, female councillor, Kratie province, Sept. 2003.
107. Ibid., p. 26
108. see also Lilja, Power, resistance.
109. Interview, female councillor, Kratie province, Sept. 2003.