Learning the party line: The paradox of politics and Cambodian schools

Abstract

This article examines the paradoxical relationship between state schools and political parties in Cambodia. To gain electoral support, the ruling Cambodian People's Party controls donations to schools, teachers' behavior, and extracurricular activities. Yet schools simultaneously provide spaces for youth to develop a generational identity that encourages skepticism of the party. I suggest that focusing on political parties provides an important means for analyzing how schooling is connected to configurations of power, particularly in authoritarian contexts.