From utopia to reality

1. Conflict resolution and rural Cambodia From utopia to reality

2. A way of thinking about an ideal, peaceful state A device for exploring how close we are to ‘peace’ A way of appreciating • the importance of conflict • the poverty of our understanding Value of utopias

3. Acknowledgments

4. looking back to 1992-3 UN intervention • impact of privileging state development • a wealthy, exploitative elite • culture of impunity • suppression of the poor and the weak • is this what we planned and paid for? CAMBODIA 20 years on

5. poorest country in SE Asia • 70% of population in rural • 30% of them very poor • many marginalised: women, landless, indigenous people Rural Cambodia - basics

7. ‘subsistence’ farmers • villages remote, autarchic • distrust of state • ‘between temple and forest’ – cosmological setting Rural Cambodia - basics

8. strong preference for village resolution • courts routinely corrupt, expensive, remote • culture of impunity MEDIATION / conflict resolution?

9. to address village problems • typically (domestic) violence, gangs, local land disputes • to manage a long tradition of violence Why is mediation important?

10. ALTERNATIVES

11. to maintain village harmony • to provide venue for change • to provide support for changes to structures that maintain inequality Why is mediation important?

12. changes needed now well understood • access to ways to challenge structural inequalities How to Move out of poverty

13. CAMBODIAN VILLAGERS

14. CAMBODIAN VILLAGERS

15. Critical backgrounds From utopia to reality

16. Contexts of conflict in Cambodia • cultural / political / econ • historical / cosmological • geographical: neighbours • regional / national CRITICAL BACKGROUNDS

17. WHERE ARE WE?

18. Intensely hierarchical • King as cosmological centre • Khsae – strings reaching across the kingdom / neo-patrimonialism / Cultural BACKGROUNDS

19. CENTRE OF THE COSMOS

20. Links from the centre

21. everyone in a hierarchy • everyone in relationship • importance of patrons in providing safety net • patrons provide backing in conflict resolution processes CONNECTIONS

22. everyone knows their place • reinforcers ubiquitous • all but family negotiable • political allegiances fit well • reciprocation of favours CONNECTIONS

23. To Peripheries

24. Conflict resolution formal and informal systems From utopia to reality

25. Village level • chief / ‘father’ (mother) • enforceable / social forces • unequals but accepted • somroh somruel – to achieve a happy agreement ‘INFORMAL’ systems

26. ‘VILLAGE BABY MEETING Pursat

27. Beyond the village • courts • remote • expensive • dangerous • manipulated by the powerful ‘FORMAL’ systems

28. Parallel to courts • King and okya (rich courtiers) - closed system • appeal direct to the King Parallel Traditional system

29. protestors outside Hun Sen’s house Surviving traditions • begging for PM’s influence

30. Uni of Phnom Penh staff and students Begging PM for help

31. UTOPIAS – mental constructs of what might be andsome realities From utopia to reality

32. France – mission civilisatrice • Sihanouk – independence • USA – democratic Vietnam • Khmer Rouge – radical communist • UN – a peaceful Cambodia UTOPIAS

33. UTOPIAS

34. UTOPIAS 2,756,941 tons of bombs

35. An undated photograph shows forced laborers digging canals in Kampong Cham province, part of the massive agrarian infrastructure the Khmer Rouge planned for the country.

38. An incumbent government (SOC) was being asked to surrender power, an armed insurgency…was being asked to disarm itself, and both were being asked to take part in what for most Cambodians were novel democratic processes. UN AIMS 1

39. All of this was to be overseen by 16,000 troops and 7,000 civilian personnel from more than 100 countries (34 troop providers) estimated $3 billion… UN AIMS 2

40. Demobilize 200,000 soldiers in 650 locations (with 250,000 militia in almost every village) • begin clearing 6 to 10 million landmines • repatriate 360,000 refugees • supervise the existing administration to ensure `free and fair elections', register 4.7 million voters, oversee elections at 1,400 polling stations, • instil civic values and a respect for human rights begin ‘the enormous task of reconstruction and rehabilitation’ (Doyle, 1995, 45). UN AIMS 3

42. Many of these were new undertakings for the UN, and all had to be accomplished within an 18-month period. It is not surprising, then, that, in retrospect, Gareth Evans, Australian Foreign Minister and one of the main initiators of the peace plan, should describe the mandate as `overly ambitious and in some respects clearly not achievable' (1994, 27). from Miall, H., O. Ramsbotham, et al. (1999). Contemporary conflict resolution : the prevention, management and transformation of deadly conflicts. Malden, Mass., Polity Press. P 192-193 UN AIMS 3

43. sought to solve the macro international conflict • ignored history / culture / traditions • lack of background research • primitive awareness of conflict • default: rebuild the state IMPACTS from an L-plate UN

44. result: another version of traditional extractive elite • failed to establish legal protections – despite structures • re-opened country to regional and global economic forces OUTCOMES

45. one party state – Cambodian Peoples party (CPP • longest-serving strongman • neo-patrimonialism • creating a favour network beyond state structures Current national realities

46. CPP needs largesse to distribute • selling the country / ‘rents’ • legal impunity • impacts on poor /development • CPP success at elections How it works

48. meanwhile UNDP long term work on decentralisation of decision-making • increased access to dispute resolution / training / education • result: increased awareness / satisfaction GLOBAL MEETS LOCAL

49. VILLAGERS

50. money from CPP khsae overshadows formal development • so focus on visible symbols: temples and schools - but not teacher salaries - corruptions National meets LOCAL