Agrarian Marxism, Animal Geographies, and non-human labor in Democratic Kampuchea

2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110387
Author(s):  
James Tyner ◽  
Stian Rice
Keyword(s):  
Water Buffalo ◽  
Khmer Rouge ◽  
State Building ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Genocide Studies ◽  
Human Labor ◽  
Two Bodies ◽  
Draught Animals ◽  
Democratic Kampuchea

Between 1975 and 1979, the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK) embarked on a genocidal program of sweeping economic, social, and political change. In an effort to modernize Democratic Kampuchea, as Cambodia was renamed, CPK officials forced the entire populace to clear forests; build dams, canals, and reservoirs; and grow rice in an effort to accumulate rapidly the necessary capital for industrialization. In doing so, upwards of two million people died from disease, hunger and malnutrition, torture, and execution. The broad coordinates of the genocide are well-established. To date, however, no scholarship has examined critically the role of non-human animals in the agricultural transformations initiated during the Cambodian genocide. Drawing on two bodies of scholarship, Agrarian Marxism and Animal Geographies, in this paper we examine the role of draught animals in the regime’s plans to build an economy around agricultural expansion and rice production for export. Specifically, we trace the new productive relationships into which Cambodia’s water buffalo and oxen became enmeshed, and the structures of violence within which these animals played an essential part. We find not only that the work of draught animals materially contributed to the CPK’s plans for state-building, but in the process, the new state–animal relationship became an exemplar of the idealized relationship between the CPK and its human laborers. We conclude that the human–animal relationship provides key insights into the mass violence that transpired in Democratic Kampuchea under the Khmer Rouge and to this end encourage future engagement with interspecies relationships in the Cambodian context and in genocide studies more broadly.

Spirit cults and Buddhist practice in Kep Province, Cambodia

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew O’Lemmon
Keyword(s):  
Khmer Rouge ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Common Type ◽  
Buddhist Temple ◽  
Buddhist Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Data ◽  
Democratic Kampuchea

This article focuses on the growth of spirit cults in Cambodia since the end of the Democratic Kampuchea regime through an examination of the most common type of tutelary spirit,neak ta, in Kompong Tralach in Kep Province. The role ofneak tais discussed in relation to Buddhism through their representation in local legends and myths, as reported by villagers and monks, and as the focus of rituals and ceremonies, including some conducted in a Buddhist temple, Wat Kompong Tralach. This provides ethnographic data showing that during and following the destruction of Buddhism under the Khmer Rouge, and the resulting loss of monks and knowledgeable lay Buddhist specialists, Cambodians turned increasingly to older traditions such as the belief in the power and efficacy ofneak tato help fill a void. This examination of the enduring place and growing importance of beliefs such as theneak tacult within Khmer cosmology and religious practice following decades of war and recovery deepens our understanding of the reconstruction of Buddhism in Cambodia.

“Nothing to offer in return”: Refugees, human rights, and genocide in Cambodia, 1975–1979

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-236
Author(s):  
Laura Madokoro
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Khmer Rouge ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
International Human ◽  
Khmer Rouge Regime ◽  
The Relationship

From 1975 to 1979, Canadian politicians and diplomats observed and discussed the possibility that a genocide was taking place in Cambodia. The situation was difficult to ascertain, however, given the limited history between the two countries and the deep isolation in which the Khmer Rouge regime operated after rising to power, as well as the Canadian government’s limited interest in international human rights until the late 1970s. It wasn’t until large numbers of refugees began to cross into Thailand in 1977–78, and began to tell their stories to Western diplomats, that human rights discussions at the United Nations began to focus more closely on the situation in Cambodia. Exploring the Canadian government’s use of refugee testimonies, this article explores the relationship between narratives of mass violence and the burgeoning human rights agenda of the late 1970s to highlight the role of refugees in shaping an international human rights agenda.

EXAMINING STATE-BUILDING OF THE SYRIAN REPUBLIC AND THE LEGACY OF ITS COLONIAL PAST

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Ani MATEVOSYAN
Keyword(s):  
Structural Analysis ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
State Building ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Military Interventions ◽  
Current State ◽  
Building Process ◽  
Political Consolidation ◽  
Historical Past

Abstract: This research tackles essential elements of Syrian state-building processes through a structural analysis incorporating several theories and concepts including but not limited to colonialism, nationalism, military interventions, institutional development, minority rule, and eventually neocolonialism. The article reveals how minority rule and different implications of military interventions shaped today’s Syria, as well as addresses some of the current issues such as the absence of domestic political consolidation. The primary aim of this research is to contextualize the role of France—as a former colonizer, within the state-building process of Syria by examining different phases of Syria’s historical past. An examination of Syria’s political developments proved that having inherited a colonial past, the current state of Syria has also inherited an unavoidable legacy of political instability from its colonial past. Keywords: Syria, Middle East, State-Building, Colonialism, Military Interventions.

Time and the Visibility of Slow Atrocity Violence

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Randle C. DeFalco
Keyword(s):  
Khmer Rouge ◽  
Cumulative Effects ◽  
Selective Recognition ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Atrocity Crimes

Abstract This article explores the role of time in obfuscating the criminality of international crimes committed through the cumulative effects of various actions that, on their own, appear banal and seemingly non-criminal in nature. It demonstrates how assessments of individual culpability continue to predominantly focus on the identification of discrete transactions that are intuitively recognizable as criminal in nature. This approach helps perpetuate the obfuscation of the criminality of slow, unfamiliar atrocity processes lacking easily identifiable moments of criminality. The selective recognition of atrocity crimes in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge period and post-independence Myanmar are analyzed as examples of this failure to recognize the criminality of international crimes committed through slow, attritive means.

scholarly journals Role of political parties in modern processes of state building in Ukraine

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
Yuriy Kyrychenko ◽  
Hanna Davlyetova
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Political Power ◽  
State Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The People ◽  
Problematic Situations

The article examines the role of political parties in modern state-building processes in Ukraine. The place of political parties in the political and legal system of society is determined. The general directions of overcoming problematic situations of activity of political parties in Ukraine are offered. It is noted that political parties play an important role in the organization and exercise of political power, act as a kind of mediator between civil society and public authorities, influence the formation of public opinion and the position of citizens directly involved in elections to public authorities and local governments. It is determined that in a modern democratic society, political parties carry out their activities in the following areas: the work of representatives of political parties in public authorities and local governments; participation in elections of state authorities and local self-government bodies; promoting the formation and expression of political will of citizens, which involves promoting the formation and development of their political legal consciousness. These areas of political parties determine their role and importance in a modern democratic society, which determines the practical need to improve their activities and improve the national legislation of Ukraine in the field of political parties. Political parties are one of the basic institutions of modern society, they actively influence the ac-tivities of public authorities, economic and social processes taking place in the state and so on. It is through political parties that the people participate in the management of public affairs. Expressing the interest of different social communities, they become a link between the state and civil society. The people have the opportunity to delegate their powers to political parties, which achieves the ability of the people to control political power in several ways, which at the same time through competition of state political institutions and political parties contributes to increasing their responsibility to the people. It is noted that the political science literature has more than 200 definitions of political parties. And approaches to the definition of this term significantly depend on the general context in which this issue was studied by the researcher. It was emphasized that today in Ukraine there are important issues related to the activities of political parties. First of all, it is a significant number of registered political parties that are incapable, ie their political activity is conducted formally or not at all. According to official data from the Department of State Registration and Notary of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, 352 political parties are registered, of which 48 political parties do not actually function. The reason for the liquidation of such parties is not to nominate their candidates for the election of the President of Ukraine and People's Deputies of Ukraine for 10 years. According to this indicator, Ukraine ranks first among other European countries. Thus, 73 political parties are officially registered in Latvia, 38 in Lithuania, 45 in Moldova, 124 in Romania, and 56 in Slovakia. However, despite the large number of officially registered political parties in Ukraine, public confidence in their activities is low. It is concluded that political parties occupy a special place in the political and legal system of society and play an important role in the organization and exercise of political power, as well as a kind of mediator between civil society and public authorities. The general directions of overcoming problematic situations of activity of political parties in Ukraine are offered, namely: introduction of effective and impartial control over activity of political parties; creating conditions for reducing the number of political parties, encouraging their unification; establishment of effective and efficient sanctions for violation of the requirements of the current legislation of Ukraine by political parties.

scholarly journals FEATURES OF COOPERATION OF DOMESTIC BUSINESS WITH TNCS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetiana Busarieva
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Transition Period ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Knowledge Resources ◽  
Qualified Personnel ◽  
Human Labor ◽  
Qualitative State ◽  
Economic Ties

At the beginning of the XXI century it can be argued that the formation of Ukrainian corporations can become one of the strategic priorities of public policy, which, provided the appropriate external environment, will increase the competitiveness of the economy and through the exclusive capabilities of national corporations development of Ukrainian economic structures, internationalization of their production and capital, integration of Ukraine into the world economy, its participation in global transformation processes. Promoting the generation of knowledge resources in Ukraine is determined mainly by increasing the competitiveness of both individual regions and the state as a whole. At the same time, the region’s ability to produce knowledge, in particular scientific knowledge, implement it and use it effectively to achieve effective socio-economic development are now becoming the main factors ensuring positive dynamics of economic development of regions along with traditional sources – investment and human labor. And Ukraine is no exception, as in terms of analysis of the preconditions for the formation of the knowledge economy in Ukraine, it can be argued that the modern domestic economy is in a new qualitative state, which is associated with changing economic conditions due to introduction of new, high technology in production, expansion of information space, mobility of capital, increasing the role of creativity, creative work, increasing the role of theoretical knowledge. As a result, one of the primary challenges facing the companies of the independent sovereign state of Ukraine at the beginning of the transition period was to restore the supply chain and find new markets in order to use excess production capacity. The emergence and nature of the activities of corporations in the Ukrainian market are influenced primarily by the volume of the domestic market; adequate structure of “free” labor (the region has significant resources of both qualified personnel and cheap labor needed to organize mass production; traditionally close economic ties between the countries).

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF UMBRELLA AGREEMENTS IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABILITY GOALS: ENERGY EFFICIENCY AT THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederik Dahlmann ◽  
Gareth Veal
Keyword(s):  
Energy Savings ◽  
State Building ◽  
Contractual Arrangements ◽  
Empire State Building ◽  
Efficient Delivery ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Perceptions And Expectations ◽  
Tacit Assumptions

In this paper we investigate whether innovative and flexible contractual arrangements can support the process of achieving ambitious sustainability goals. We explore this question through an analysis of the role of umbrella agreements in driving energy savings in the building sector. Drawing on a case study of the iconic Empire State building, we examine the typical challenges faced by clients and contractors in devising suitable agreements that facilitate managing contractual and performance risks, as well as the sharing of responsibilities and cooperation between multiple project stakeholders. We find that the project arrangements appear to exhibit the adoption of the key characteristics commonly found in umbrella agreements which incorporate sustainability measures that maximize income through efficient delivery of outcomes. Specifically, this means that they need to enable stakeholders to manage repeated review cycles, complex perceptions and expectations, and different tacit assumptions and codes of behaviour, as well as managing and communicating in networks and obtaining agreement also from non-contractual parties. Moreover, we demonstrate that umbrella agreements can facilitate a network perspective of business relationships by emphasizing value co-creation and the embeddedness of firms within a network of interactions.

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