Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer - The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia

Offering a comprehensive overview of the current situation in the country, The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia provides a broad coverage of social, cultural, political and economic development within both rural and urban contexts during the last decade. A detailed introduction places Cambodia within its global and regional frame, and the handbook is then divided into five thematic sections:

Political and Economic Tensions

Rural Developments

Urban Conflicts

Social Processes

Cultural Currents.

The first section looks at the major political implications and tensions that have occurred in Cambodia, as well as the changing parameters of its economic profile. The handbook then highlights the major developments that are unfolding within the rural sphere, before moving on to consider how cities in Cambodia, and particularly Phnom Penh, have become primary sites of change. The fourth section covers the major processes that have shaped social understandings of the country, and how Cambodians have come to understand themselves in relation to each other and the outside world. Section five analyses the cultural dimensions of Cambodias current experience, and how identity comes into contact with and responds to other cultural themes.

Bringing together a team of leading scholars on Cambodia, the handbook presents an understanding of how sociocultural and political economic processes in the country have evolved. It is a cutting-edge and interdisciplinary resource for scholars and students of Southeast Asian Studies, as well as policymakers, sociologists and political scientists with an interest in contemporary Cambodia.

Katherine Brickell is Reader in Human Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London, UK, and recipient of the 2014 Royal Geographical Society Gill Memorial Award. For over a decade, her research has focused on gender, violence and rights in Cambodia.

Simon Springer is Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Victoria, Canada and recipient of the 2015 Association of American Geographers Stanley D. Brunn Young Scholar Award. He has authored four books, including Cambodias Neoliberal Order (Routledge, 2012).

This handbook is sure to become the definitive starting point for just about anyonefrom students to policymakersto understand the political and economic tensions, rural developments, urban conflicts, social processes, and cultural currents underpinning todays Cambodia. The contributors are top-notch and include a wide range of scholars ranging from geographers turned social constructivists to demographers to anti-corruption experts to journalists turned biographers. The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia is truly a collection of gems that will be mined for many years to come.

Sophal Ear, Occidental College, Los Angeles, USA

In this crowded, courageous and penetrating collection of essays, over fifty scholars and activists examine some of the issues that press against Cambodia today. These deeply committed, highly professional chapters come together to form a path-breaking, invaluable, but often saddening book.

David Chandler, Monash University, Australia

Having given six years of my service for the promotion and protection of human rights in Cambodia as a senior UN official, I was pleased to see the publication of this book which examines in an interdisciplinary manner different facets of Cambodia. After going through a tragic past, Cambodia is emerging out of the ashes of conflict, lasting more nearly 30 years, as a forward-looking nation. It has started to build state institutions and infrastructure from scratch and is making significant progress in this regard. However, there is a dearth of academic literature on different aspects of Cambodian life and this book seems to fill that gap and fill in a handsome manner. Hence, it is a welcome and timely publication. The coverage of the book is comprehensive and should thus provide the reader with a good overview of the situation of the legal, political and economic landscape in Cambodia, a country with a rich cultural heritage. I highly commend this book to those interested in Cambodia.

Surya P. Subedi, University of Leeds, UK

Edited by Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer

First published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2017 Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer

The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Brickell, Katherine, editor. | Springer, Simon, editor. | Sok Udom
Deth. Contemporary geopolitics of Cambodia. Container of (work):
Title: The handbook of contemporary Cambodia/edited by Katherine
Brickell and Simon Springer.
Description: New York: Routledge, 2016. | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016011585 | ISBN 9781138831186 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781315736709 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: CambodiaPolitics and government21st century. |
CambodiaSocial conditions21st century. | CambodiaEconomic
conditions21st century.
Classification: LCC DS554.8 .H36 2016 | DDC 959.604/3dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016011585

ISBN: 978-1-138-83118-6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73670-9 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo
by Sunrise Setting Ltd, Brixham, UK

Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer

PART I
Political and economic tensions

Sok Udom Deth, Kairat Moldashev and Serkan Bulut

Catherine Morris

Rachel Hughes and Maria Elander

Louise Coventry

Maryann Bylander

Sebastian Strangio

Richard Sharpley and Peter McGrath

PART II
Rural developments

Melissa Marschke

Young Sokphea

Joakim jendal and Ros Bandeth

Jonathan Padwe

Laurie Parsons

Jean-Christophe Diepart and Laura Schoenberger

Robin Biddulph and Shaun Williams

PART III
Urban conflicts

Tom Percival

Dennis Arnold and Dae-oup Chang

Sabina Lawreniuk

Gabriel Fauveaud

Jessie Connell and Mark Grimsditch

Simon Springer

Giorgio Talocci and Camillo Boano

Kyoko Kusakabe