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Category Archives: Researches

Remember Chea Vichea, Remember Politics of Fear in Cambodia

Posted on by Posted in Culture, Economics, Education, Leadership, Politics, Researches, Social

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 96

This part (96), Mr. Sophan invited every Cambodian citizen to remember Chea Vichea whose death has been very controversial during this 13 years of his anniversary. As of today, the authority can only inform his relatives and sympathizers on their ongoing investigation into the murdering by having never disclosed the progress and eliminated this culture of impunity.

Chea Vichea in 13 Years by CambodiaDaily
Chea Vichea in 13 Years by CambodiaDaily

The authority has likely embedded ill-will towards the dead and the supporters. This impunity has been a tool to continue “politics of fear” that has been well utilized by Hun Sen administration. Just reminding to the three well-known activists i.e. Chea Vichea who was President of Garment Labors Union, Chhut Wutty who is the environmentalist, and recently Kem Ley who is the social researcher and public commentator, it is sufficient to conclude that the aim and attempt of this continuing impunity is planned as an effective tool to shut down “freedom of expression” and to embed the “politics of fear” in Cambodia.

According to criminal law of Cambodia, the length of after 15 years in any crime case, it could be closed down in investigating and unearthing the motives, which is to make a non-stopped sarcasm of the justice system of this nation.

The lie behind GDP: Why four in five Cambodians are missing out

Posted on by Posted in Economics, Researches

Op-Ed: ASEAN Today

Cambodian_rice_farmer_10678769516

JANUARY 17, 2017

Rural Cambodians make up almost 80% of the population but, unlike their fellow countrymen in the cities, are held back with poor or limited public services and a lack of transparency in government policies. 

By Tan Zhi Xin

Cambodia is one of the fastest expanding economies in the world. It has been growing at 7% or more each year since 2004, largely driven by agricultural development and has seen per-capita income rises, life expectancy increases, and its highest-ever literacy rate. This rapid economic growth has lifted five million people out of poverty, many of which are joining 21% of the country’s 15 million citizens by migrating to its capital city for better opportunities.

And the country is proud of its achievements, particularly in achieving the global Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving poverty. Its rate of improvement in this has been dramatic, falling from 53% in 2004 to 17.7% in 2012.

A reduction in poverty rates is not the whole story

However, these figures are misleading. People have merely transited from below the “poverty” line to below the “vulnerable poverty” line. Of the 15 million inhabitants, two million are considered to be in the “poverty” zone where they live on US$2 a day, but more than eight million are near-poor, living on less than US$2.60.

“The loss of just 1,200 riels (30 US cents) per day in income would throw an estimated three million Cambodians – 20% of the population – back into poverty, doubling the poverty rate to 40%,” explains Neak Samsen, a poverty analyst with the World Bank in Cambodia.

Growth is uneven

At the same time, Cambodia is also a country of rising inequality. While the capital city is transforming into a city filled with high-rise luxury apartments, imported cars, and western-style shopping malls, rural areas continue to be left out. Poverty is highly-concentrated in these areas, affecting 79% of citizens. These people are mostly subsistence farmers, members of poor fishing communities, landless people, displaced persons, and mine victims.

Because they live in remote villages these groups are isolated from basic social services, education and facilities – and some have to walk more than five km to the nearest road. In other words, the economic transformation has resulted in a stark rural-urban divide that continues to widen as Cambodia moves forward. In 2004, the gap was 89%, but in 2011, it widened to 91%.

Land ownership is a contentious issue 

Adding to these problems is the issue of land ownership. Conflict between the government and farmers is common in Cambodia and dates back to the Khmer Rouge regime when most land records were destroyed during the 1975 genocide. As a result, many rural farmers are unable to prove their rightful ownership of the land.

But more serious is the lack of transparency in deals between government and investors that result in the large-scale displacement of the population. As just one example, farmer Phao Nheung from rural Chi Khor Krom commune had her rice field ploughed without her knowledge. Residents from the community said they were not told of the details of the deal signed between the government and investors. “We lost everything. Now we do not have enough to eat,” Nheung, 40, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Reform and transparency is needed 

Nheung, one of 770,000 victims of the lack of governmental transparency, is now left with just one of her five hectares of land. To tackle this important issue in the future, land contracts must be disclosed to residents so the right people can be found accountable and residents have more leverage to assert their rights. Without this powerful information, farmers and residents are left under-compensated or treated unfairly.

But this is not always the case. Tek Vannara, director of the NGO Forum on Cambodia, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the government had begun publishing details of contracts and location of land concessions online, but has stopped doing so since 2009. This practice should be urgently brought back.

Rural tourism is trapping low-income communities

This lack of transparency gives rise to a vicious cycle of poverty in rural areas, made worse by other long-standing barriers that stifle productivity, such as bottlenecks in fertiliser and seed markets, inadequate irrigation systems, a lack of savings and poor access to credit. As a result, small-scale farmers are vulnerable to fluctuations in international rice prices and tourism is becoming an attractive source of revenue.

But the commercialisation of the countryside does not help to alleviate poverty in the way it is meant to. Instead, it reinforces it. Villagers in the often-visited areas are under pressure to stay “primitive and poor” to retain authenticity and continue attracting tourists. As a result, many villagers are inclined to improve their life only marginally to continue capitalising on this lucrative business.

A lack of infrastructure limits opportunities

To make things worse, these communities also suffer from a lack of public infrastructure and services like healthcare and sanitation. This leaves a third of children under five years old stunted, and more than 80% of Cambodians awaiting access to a piped water supply. Meanwhile, hospitals and public schools accessible to the poor are often understaffed and underequipped. Proper roads are also in short supply, meaning farmers have difficulty sending their goods to the market, and children struggle to get to classes.

To fully understand the problem it must also be understood that rural poverty is in large part perpetuated by rampant corruption. According to the 2015 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), Cambodia ranks 150 out of 168 countries regarding graft, with a score of 21 out of 100. This tends to result in unbalanced development, with rural areas at the shorter end of the stick.

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Cambodia is at Palliative Care stage and needing MOST

Posted on by Posted in Culture, Economics, Education, Leadership, Politics, Researches

Critical Thinking & Political Analysis:

Experiencing through a lifelong learning and a lifelong antagonising of Cambodia politics has not been placing myself into a vague cliché. Hearing through rhetoric of public leader(s) to professional club(s), you might loss your sight to comprehend what are their “critical thinking”, “political correctness”, and “so-called professionalism” etc. at. With this fundamental doubt, I am easily called “sarcastic”, “ill-minded”, or “taunted” etc. If sometime, someone explicitly used direct word to some individual(s)’s bad behaviour or irresponsibility of their duties, that person could be become the “accuser” to the “accused” by the middleman without having a “proper critical thinking”. Sometime, if one made a general statement in their writing, such general statement could not be free from being labeled as being an “accuser” as such general statement could be made into the identified “accuser” and the “accused” by the member. Sometime, the good intention to advise for a beneficial solution, such advise could be dragged into something else and you could be responded to focus on your club, not my club etc. And sometime, I am very concerned on the disarray of the argument on “majority” and “minority” political mantra.

Plato on TruthUp to today, the pure democracy has not existed in this world. Up to today, the pure communism has not existed in this world. The middle path engagement has been visible everywhere. But those countries that are moving away from this middle path are practically fragile states or failed states respectively. Our well-known ancient political philosophers such as Plato said “you should not honor men more than truth”, or legendary Socrates who accepted to die than giving up his “true word”, or Lord Buddha who advocated for “Dhamma-thepady Democracy or Dhamma Supremacy Democracy” since thousand centuries ago, have lighted up till today. Dhamma Supremacy Democracy literally means “rule of laws democracy”. In practice, Bhikkhu monks used major consensus to make decision-making upon well-adopted Vinaya or rule of laws. At least, there are three levels of “rule of laws” taught by Lord Buddha: the conventional truth or man-made rule of laws (Vinaya or disciplinary discourse), natural truth of rule of laws (Dhamma or natural truth of long discourse”, and ultimate truth or ultimate rule of laws (Abbhidhamma or ultimate truth of metaphysic discourse”. Buddha also addressed the three majority policy such as self supremacy (Atta-thepady), populace supremacy (Loka-thepady), and Dhamma supremacy (Dhamma-thepady) which he concluded that all those supremacy are beneficial by resembling within the line of “rule of laws” or Dhamma, not a single identity.

Look at Cambodia, there seems no core value of “rule of laws” have been embedded. Many civilized nations have evolved their political arguments into monarchy, republican, democrat, or conservative etc. to maximize the interest of their nations. But Cambodia has likely evolved into more self-inflicting political argument than those progressive political embeddedness. While Cambodia has adopted conventional man-made truth (rule of laws) called “Constitution” in 1993, none of the powerful leader has ever dedicated himself to build this truth for this country. As a result, the embeddedness of disarrayed citizenship has been omnipresent displayed. For instance, when two Cambodians are facing road-accident argumentation with each other, the two shall accuse each other to seek “wrong” and “right” rarely upholding principle to depend on nation-state’s rule of laws. And for the powerful leader(s), they will use “rule by laws” to accuse or punish individuals or “inferiors” at their helm to legitimize righteousness like what Khmer saying popularly coined “not kick the ball but the player”. Constitution has been born by the attempt of “critical thinking” but the Constitutional Council, the three branches of government, and the citizens in general, are running out their inner “critical thinking”. To divulge it, I wish to share original writing of “critical thinking” by Peter Facione of Santa Clara University with italic letters below:

Critical Thinking: What it is and why it counts

Peter Facione, Santa Clara University.

Critical thinking is a pervasive and purposeful human phenomenon. It is thinking that has a purpose such as proving a point, interpreting what something means or solving a problem.

Critical thinking is about how you approach problems, questions and issues. The ideal critical thinker can be characterized not merely by her or his cognitive skills but also by how she or he approaches life and living in general. 

Good critical thinkers can also be described in terms of how they approach specific issues, questions or problems. The experts state critical thinking includes:

  • clarity in stating the question or concern
  • orderliness in working with complexity
  • diligence in seeking relevant information
  • reasonableness in selecting and applying criteria
  • care in focusing attention on the concern at hand
  • persistence through difficulties are encountered
  • precision to the degree permitted by the subject and the circumstances

How does a poor critical thinker approach specific problems? 

  • disorganized and overly simplistic
  • spotty about getting the facts
  • apt to apply unreasonable criteria
  • easily distracted
  • ready to give up at the least hint of difficulty
  • intent on a solution that is more detailed than is possible, or
  • being satisfied with an overly generalized and uselessly vague response

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Interview with Simon Springer, Author of “Violent Neoliberalism: Development, Discourse, and Dispossession in Cambodia”

Posted on by Posted in Economics, Education, Politics, Researches, Social

Op-Ed: Network for Cambodia and Southeast Asia Study
Read Dr. Simon’s Latest Article on Klepto-Neoliberalism Authoritarianism

Interview with Simon Springer, Author of “Violent Neoliberalism: Development, Discourse, and Dispossession in Cambodia”

By Sopheada Phy / September 30, 2015
Courtesy: ncseas
Courtesy: ncseas

Simon Springer, Violent Neoliberalism: Development, Discourse, and Dispossession in Cambodia; Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (March 18, 2015); Pp: 236.

Simon Springer, author of “Violent Neoliberalism:

Courtesy: ncseas
Courtesy: ncseas

Development, Discourse, and Dispossession in Cambodia.” Courtesy of Simon Springer

“Neoliberalization in Cambodia has hindered the potential for social justice, exacerbated poverty and inequality, and is now increasingly thrusting thousands of Cambodians into a position of landless proletarianism.” This sentence is extracted from the Introduction section of a book entitled “Violent Neoliberalism: Development, Discourse, and Dispossession in Cambodia,” which was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2015. The book explores the nexus between neoliberalism and violence based on a critical poststructuralist perspective with particular focus on Cambodia. 

This book is a major contribution to particularly the field of peace and conflict studies and human geography studies, and is of great interest to those who want to inquire more into how neoliberalism can be understood and how violence and economic development intersect in the era of neoliberal globalization, especially in the case of contemporary Cambodia.

Dr. Simon Springer is the author of the book. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the University of Victoria, Canada. He also serves as a co-editor for ACME: An International E-Journal for Critical Geographies and Transforming Capitalism Book Series, Rowman & Littlefield. He has previously taught at the University of Otago, New Zealand, and the National University of Singapore.

A well-trained human geographer whose main research interests focus on geographies of neoliberalism, geographies of violence, anarchist geographies, and more importantly geographies of contemporary Cambodia, Dr. Simon Springer has produced several publications including authored books, edited books, book chapters, peer reviewed journal articles, etc. His journal articles have appeared in leading geographical journals such as Progress in Human Geography, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, Antipode, Environment and Planning A, Political Geography, Area, Geoforum, Dialogues in Human Geography, Space and Polity, and Geography Compass. 

Dr. Springer has recently responded to NCSEAS’s inquiries about the book. His responses help those interested in reading the book understand about what the book is all about, and provide insight into particularly the relationship between neoliberalism and violence in Cambodia. While answering question about his vision for a better Cambodia, he asks “Is the consolidation of wealth into fewer and fewer hands desirable, or do Cambodians want to see a system where everyone is taken care of and has an equal opportunity to contribute to society?”   

What is the book mainly about?

“Violent Neoliberalism” explores the relationship between neoliberalism and violence through a critical poststructuralist lens. The book seeks to expose the supposed humanitarianism of what has become the world’s most dominant political economic model as a process of transformation that is shot through with a significant degree of cruelty. In making this argument I employ a series of theoretical dialogues informed by my ongoing research in Cambodia. In particular I seek to upset and disturb the ‘commonsense’ assumptions about  development and dispossession in the country by examining the discourses that are being deployed. In looking closely at these processes I argue that the ongoing patterns of neoliberalization have become engrossed with violence, not only in Cambodia, but beyond as well.

Why was this study important to undertake?

It is critically important to look critically at neoliberalism and the various ways it has been taken up across the globe. All we hear in mainstream accounts are positive messages about free markets and the opportunities they provide. What isn’t often depicted is the fact that while there undoubtedly are opportunities for the rich to make a lot of money off of things like real estate investment, the poor are left in the lurch as they bear the brunt of spikes in rents and forced evictions to make way for new developments. Cambodia has been particularly good at protecting the interests of an elite and wealthy class of well connected individuals, but the majority of Cambodians are still struggling with poverty, increasing debt, and economic marginalization, which has only been exacerbated over the last two decades of intensifying neoliberalization.

Why do you think this book is a must-read?

I don’t want to assume this is a ‘must read’ book. I certainly hope that it will be taken up and appreciated, but I recognize that books on Cambodia aren’t necessarily at the forefront of the world’s concern or interest. The appeal for scholars and students of Cambodia should be evident, and I think folks in the NGO community will also find something useful here too, but I hope the appeal extends beyond a country study as I’m trying to make a wider theoretical argument about the ways in which processes of neoliberalization are intimately connected, or at the very least have a capacity for profound violence.

The world is on a crash course, where intense capitalism, presently in the form of neoliberalism, is literally threatening our ability to survive on the planet. I’d like to think that my book contributes to a chorus of academic voices that are crying out in defiance of this trajectory. My specific contribution is to suggest that we are only heightening our capacity for violence by remaining complacent in the face of greater neoliberalization.

To your own definition, what is neoliberalism?

My short answer is that neoliberalism is violence. I’m being cheeky here given the focus of my book, but I also mean that quite literally. My longer answer is that it is very difficult to pin neoliberalism down.

To most scholars, the word ‘neoliberalism’ generally refers to a new political, economic, and social arrangement emphasizing market relations, minimal or deregulated states, and individual responsibility, but I think there is more too it than that. In particular I’m keen to emphasize its performative aspects. Accordingly, I consider neoliberalism as a discourse. It is a mutable, inconsistent, and variegated process that circulates through the discourses it constructs, justifies, and defends. This performative quality counteracts the mainstream assumptions about a ubiquitous and supposedly omnipresent ‘thing’ called neoliberalism that acts like a bulldozer. For me, I think we simply can’t neglect the internal constitution, local variability, and the role that ‘the social’ and individual agency play in (re)producing, facilitating, and circulating neoliberalism. This too is its discursive quality. The result is that we see neoliberalism play out differently in different contexts.

I take a lot of critique for calling Cambodia a neoliberal country, but I stand behind that assessment because those making that critique are typically not well versed in what neoliberalism is, thinking instead that it is a bogeyman type figure, rather than a discursive performance that is necessarily hybridized and mutated according to the context it is operating in. So neoliberalism in Cambodia, in a discursive reading, is never going to be the same as neoliberalism in Canada, Japan, Germany, or Turkey. It has it’s own unique formations that are contingent upon existing historical contexts, geographical landscapes, institutional legacies, and embodied subjectivities.

In short, neoliberalism is an ongoing performance that utilizes the idea of the market to justify and legitimize inequality and certain forms of violence.

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