Reformation of the Victim and Offender Relationship in Post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia: An Oral Historical Approach
2024; Q12607016; Volume: 147; Linguagem: Inglês
10.38080/crh.2024.05.147.138
ISSN1599-1172
Autores Tópico(s)Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography
ResumoThis study examines how local communities in Cambodia formed and transformed their relationship with former Khmer Rouge cadres after the Khmer Rouge regime's collapse in 1979, adopting an oral historical approach. It divides the post-Khmer Rouge era in the country into three phases in which distinct local practices were mobilized - (1) preventing revenge violence in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge regime, (2) pursuing social stabilization, and (3) accepting mutual coexistence with former Khmer Rouge cadres – and investigates the practices and narratives adopted by community members for pursuing their objectives in each phase. The findings were generated based on the author's collection and analysis of the interviews conducted with twenty-six participants in seven local communities in three geographical locations: Phnom Penh, Svay Rieng and Battambang. In short, the study presents that Cambodians had promoted gradual processes for coexisting with former Khmer Rouge leaders utilizing the limited social and cultural resources available within their communities, following the pace that the majority of the local population could accept. The forms of their practices for facilitating reconciliation were rather indirect and subtle, and the narratives usually relied on their traditional maxims and religious teachings that people were familiar with. Through such practices, most local communities where the interviews are conducted, have achieved the state of mutual recognition between former Khmer Rouge cadres and their victims.
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