Social movements in Cambodia: why they succeed or fail

Young, Sokphea

doi:10.1057/s41268-019-00175-7

Cited by 13 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 37 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The tight nexus between the elites and the ruling party is a reciprocal and clientelistic process, and in the face of any movement against either of these parties, suppression and co-optation to protect are often, then, the lucrative choices. 85 Without trusted alliances with other societal elites and interest groups, labour movements in Cambodia are perceived as a form of democratic 'intent', but such 'action' is often co-opted by the ruling regime's wage labour incentive to eventually break down coalitions with the opposition party movements.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organization without Revolution: The Labour Movement and the Failure of Democratization in Cambodia

Young¹

2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is postulated that collective labour movements responding to demands for political reform, rather than to workplace demands, are key actors in democratic mobilisation. Contrary to this proposition, this paper draws on evidence from labour movements and related social allies in Cambodia to examine why they fail to mobilise democratic revolutions. By analysing the development of the labour movement and key social actors, the paper argues that, because they possess weak social and institutional alliances with political actors, such as opposition parties and other interest groups, to establish a democratic revolution, labour movements do not 'burst onto the political scene.' The capacity of labour movements to transform 'democratic intent' to 'democratic action' is thus hindered by the ability of authoritarian rulers and their coalitions, including business elites, to tightly control and co-opt any alliances of labour movements designed to put pressure on the ruling regime. In essence, capitalist development does not strengthen the capacity of but co-opt the excluded labour groups to break down the opposition alliance to prevent democratisation.In the democratisation literature, workers have been considered an important and decisive actor in rallying for democracy. Diverging from Moore's "no bourgeois, no democracy" contingency 2 thesis, Rueschemeyer, Stephens and Stephens argue that capitalist development strengthens the organisational capacity of the excluded working class, which enables them to pressure for democracy. 1 Collier and Mahoney argue, in the same vein, that labour movements 2 play a prominent role in delegitimating authoritarian regimes. 3 However, the opposite consideration -why some labour movements fail to mobilise for democratic revolution -is less established in the literature. 4 In other words, what lies beneath the failure of some labour movements to transform their agenda "from workplace demands to demands for broad political liberties"? 5 Democratic revolutions are nonviolent, urban-based, mass uprisings that pressure for an end to authoritarian rule and demand a transition to democracy. However, this study posits that democratic revolutions do not necessarily entail the toppling of the dictator or ruling party.Labour movements can apply so much pressure on the regime that the ruling elites agree, while maintaining power, to adopt radical reforms that fundamentally reshape prevailing institutional arrangements; for example, fair elections, imposition of executive term limits, judicial reform and military professionalisation, among others. 6 Existing theories of labour's democratic behaviour focus on the moment when labour has "burst onto the political scene" and challenged dictatorial rule. 7 This paper aims to complement this body of literature with accounts of deradicalised labour movements -less extreme political opposition and lacking strong social institutional parameters (alliances with and among local and international social and political actors) -that fail to establish themselve...

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organization without Revolution: The Labour Movement and the Failure of Democratization in Cambodia

Young¹

2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Cambodia is one of the examples of how Western aid and actors buttress the durability of the ruling regime (Ear 2013;Young 2016a;Young 2021c). Third, while many scholars have documented the conditions under which transnational advocacies fail or succeed (Andia and Chorev 2017;Carpenter 2007;Young, 2020Young, , 2021c, little attention has been paid to how the effort of transnational actors is undermined by the notion of national sovereignty common to authoritarian regimes. China, for example, is reactive to international intervention (Tang 2016).…”

Section: Transnational Activism and National Sovereignty Issuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lobbying the Autocrat

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…These foreign investments, in turn, induced adverse rather than favourable social, economic and environmental impacts on the grassroots communities, including indigenous communities, located in and around the investment areas. These impacts, in turn, provoked what it is called 'popular resistance' to demand redress of the unfavourable impacts; peasants and indigenous people protest almost every day everywhere in the country, employing tactics such as protests, road blockages, campaigns, advocacy and petitions, in which they are assisted by aggrieved non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (Young 2016;2019a). The grassroots mobilisation of Prey Lang communities is one of these popular collective efforts.…”

Section: An Overview Of Cambodia's Socio-politics Natural Resources A...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Citizens of photography: visual activism, social media and rhetoric of collective action in Cambodia

Young

2021

South East Asia Research

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sokphea Young obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne (Australia), and is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University College London (UK). His research interests are on the areas of transnational activism, civil society, visual politics, visual media and development, citizenship, globalisation and development, and political regime and development in Southeast Asia. His research published in

show abstract

Social movements in Cambodia: why they succeed or fail

Cited by 13 publications

References 37 publications

Organization without Revolution: The Labour Movement and the Failure of Democratization in Cambodia

Organization without Revolution: The Labour Movement and the Failure of Democratization in Cambodia

Lobbying the Autocrat

Citizens of photography: visual activism, social media and rhetoric of collective action in Cambodia

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About