Cultural Renewal in Cambodia: Academic Activism in the Neoliberal Era

Description

This book is about cultural work in torn-up societies. It narrates the establishment of an academic project in contemporary post-war Cambodia, when the country became the largest recipient of international aid. It depicts a Southeast Asian country at the crossroads of conflicting imaginaries of development through the lens of an independent organization that emerged out of the turmoil. It shows how the relations of domination of institutions from the ‘north’ effectively constrain alternative visions of action in the ‘south’ that fall outside the neo-liberal framework. The account is a reflection on past ambitions and failures of the international good-will order, and a charge to change our approach in the future. It offers a cautionary tale whose significance transcends the Cambodian case. Contents Acknowledgements Illustrations Abbreviations Introduction Part 1 The Politics of Knowledge in Cambodia Chapter 1 A Post-Colonial Nation 1 French Rule (1863–1953) 1.1 Colonial Orientalism and Its ‘Dissidents’ 1.2 ‘Angkorization’ of Cambodia 1.3 Knowledge Modernization through Buddhism 1.4 ‘Amateur’ Scholars 2 Independent Cambodia (1953–1970) 2.1 Birth of ‘Khmer Studies’ 2.2 The Royal University of Fine Arts (1965–1975) Chapter 2 Civil War, Genocide and CEDORECK 1 The Khmer Republic (1970–1975) 1.1 The Khmer-Môn Institute (1971–1975) 2 The Khmer Rouge (1975–1979) 3 Rebuilding from the Ashes 3.1 In Cambodia: the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (1979–1993) 3.2 Cultural Survival in Exile: the CEDORECK Chapter 3 Cambodia after UNTAC 1 UNTAC and Its Legacies 2 Education after UNTAC 3 From ‘Media to Digital Democracy’? 4 Non-Governmental Organizations Part 2 The Making of a Hybrid Academic Institution Chapter 4 The Center for Khmer Studies 1 Defining the Center’s Mission 2 Building ‘From the Bottom-Up’ Chapter 5 An Integrated Capacity-Building Program 1 Programmatic Genesis 2 The Junior Faculty Training Program (2004–2010) 2.1 Organization of the Junior Faculty Training Program 2.2 Contradictory Intellectual Debates 2.3 Practicing Fieldwork (and Comparing Cambodia and Its Neighboring Countries) 2.4 Translating, Publishing, Disseminating 2.5 International Exposure 2.7 Supporting a Community of Social Actors Chapter 6 A Citizen’s Institution 1 Programmatic Genesis 1.1 Inventorying the Collections of the National Museum of Cambodia 1.2 Supporting the Buddhist Institute 1.3 Digitizing Materials in the Khmer Language (with the National Library) 2 Expanding Creative Knowledge: Working with Artists and Craftsmen 2.1 Collaboration with the Asia Cultural Council 2.2 Institute of Khmer Traditional Textile 2.3 The Khmer Dance Project 3 Community Engagement in Siem Reap 3.1 Collaboration with the Buddhist Monastery Wat Damnak 3.2 In the Shadow of a World Heritage Site (Angkor) Part 3 Social Responsibilities: Scholars, Funders and Diplomats Chapter 7 Socially Engaged Scholars? 1 Involving International Scholars 1.1 Khmer Studies: a Fragmented Field 1.2 Working with International Academic Institutions 1.3 Universities’ Librarians and Supporting Staff 2 Facilitating Special Educational Activities 2.1 Facilitating Research Projects 3 Relations with Individual Scholars 3.1 Early Career Academics 3.2 Established Academics 3.3 Scholars from the Diaspora 3.4 Socializing Scholars in the Neoliberal Age Chapter 8 Funders as ‘Stakeholders’? 1 Individual Philanthropists 2 Foundations 2.1 CKS and Foundations 2.2 Relation with the Rockefeller Foundation Chapter 9 Working with International Organizations and Cultural Diplomacies 1 The World Bank 2 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 3 Working with Diplomats 3.1 United States’ Cultural Diplomacy 3.2 French Cultural Diplomacy 3.3 Japanese Cultural Diplomacy Conclusion Appendix: Report on CKS’s Inaugural Workshop (2001) Bibliography Index