Korob, Kaud, Klach: In Search of Agency in Rural Cambodia

Abstract

This article takes the dominant view of a top-down Khmer political culture as its point of departure and explores the extent to which the last decade's political changes have altered the socio-political landscape and triggered the growth of agency in rural areas. In particular, the reform of democratic decentralisation and its integrated 'soft' values are scrutinised in fields such as views on local governance, popular discourse on decentralisation, rural NGO activity and the gendering of politics.The dominant assessment of Cambodian political culture in the current academic literature is that it is quite 'monotheistic' in that it only acknowledges a single 'doctrine' regarding that culture. A rather distinct 'portrait' emerges: a political culture within a Brahman-Vedic tradition, stemming from the origin of Khmerness itself, embodied in the Angkorean era and embedded in society for centuries. Whether we look at historians emphasising the roots and longevity of this culture, sociologists arguing its embeddedness, or anthropologists ethnographically observing its micro-processes, among the recurring features are: exercise of power, social hierarchies, relational rigidity, patriarchal dominance, peasant docility, distance between the state and the people, a lack of general trust and social fragmentation. 2 Cambodia's modern disasters could thus be Joakim Öjendal is Associate Professor and This article is based on fieldwork in rural Cambodia. Four communes were studied in a four-year period (2001-04) by Kim and/or Öjendal, focusing on the gradual implementation of the first phases of the decentralisation reform. Communes were selected randomly, but with a certain geographical spread. The method of study was qualitative, including participatory observation and semi-structured interviews. In addition, several other rounds of fieldwork, for other purposes but in similar surroundings, have been used for reference. Implicitly, the article draws on our previous work cited below. We acknowledge the contribution of Sovatha Ann in some of these field sessions. We are grateful to Caroline Hughes, who has provided very valuable comments; we have also enjoyed the wealth of constructive and concrete comments provided by two anonymous JSEAS reviewers. 1 'Respect, admiration, fear' -a greeting every Cambodian recognises and uses, typically in addressing state authorities; see below for a discussion.

Learning for sustainability: Participatory resource management in Cambodian fishing villages

“…Although reforms are occurring within an authoritarian, hierarchical power structure where social stratification remains an important cultural value (Ebihara, 1968;Marston, 1997), these features interact with evolving political and institutional development in multifarious patterns (Ojendal and Sedara, 2006). This 'hybridisation' enables participatory democracy to be pursued while overlapping with remaining patronage structures (Ojendal and Sedara, 2006).…”

Life, Fish and Mangroves : Resource Governance in Coastal Cambodia

“…In concrete terms, people continue to pay respect and are loyal to those with a higher political rank and economic status. At the same time, these societal values are interacting with evolving political and institutional development: notions of fairness, justice and local empowerment are entering into people's ways of thinking (Ojendal and Sedara 2006). This results in a "hybridization," whereby participatory democracy is overlapping with persistent patronage structures (Ojendal and Sedara 2006).…”

“…At the same time, these societal values are interacting with evolving political and institutional development: notions of fairness, justice and local empowerment are entering into people's ways of thinking (Ojendal and Sedara 2006). This results in a "hybridization," whereby participatory democracy is overlapping with persistent patronage structures (Ojendal and Sedara 2006). In the resource sector, for instance, many of the Cambodian government's formal and informal policies are about exploiting timber and fish, or converting forests for agriculture production and converting fishing grounds into exclusive "fishing lots" (Sunderlin 2006;Ratner 2006).…”

The Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia: Water-related conflicts with abundance of water

“…Öjendal and Sedara (2006). It is important to note that the sociopolitical structures usually considered as obstacles for democracy, such as patron-client relations and authoritarianism, are not as static as is often thought.…”

“…The on-going decentralization process would probably not have taken place if it had not been interpreted by the ruling party as a new source of means to gain popularity and legitimacy. Thus decentralization has actually not been "participatory revolution," but merely "power politics as usual" (Öjendal and Sedara, 2006).…”