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This article demonstrates that precolonial Khmer ethnicity played an essential role in the Cambodian court's relations with those of Siam and Vietnam in the mid-19th century because Cambodia's ruling elite and religious leaders often adopted ethnic politics in relation to the Khmer to resist threats that the neighbouring courts imposed on them. Developed as 'ethnocentrism of victimhood', which integrates real or imagined depictions of external influence with anxieties about the extinction of an ethnic community, this primordial ethnic conception was transformed under French rule and became crucial in the rise of nationalism during the early 20th century. The colonial encounter superimposed on the precolonial conception of ethnic identity by inserting the notion of racial superiority into it, thus worsening Khmer–Vietnamese relations. Newly emerged components such as national borders and history, along with socio-political factors, were crucial in restructuring ethnicity under colonial conditions. The notion of being a victim of someone else's abuses had a long-term impact on forming and stimulating ethnic antagonism among ethnic Khmers. This analysis thus reveals the role played by primordialism and constructivism in reformulating modern ethnicity and nationality, and why ethnic antagonism toward the Vietnamese emerged among the Khmer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to measure the relationship Relationship between Social capital and life satisfaction of the Southern Khmer people in Viet Nam. Khmer households were targeted to be interviewed. To do this, the method of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is initially employed, then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structure equation modelling (SEM) are used. The results showed that six aspects of Social capital toward social networks; Perception of individual in in a society; social norm; values of life; information and communication and self-esteem are significant factors. As a result, self - esteem as mediators between social capital and life satisfaction. This finding provides strong evidence of the important role of social capital to support positive impacts on self-esteem and life satisfaction. In addition, Research results show that the average satisfaction index of Khmer people is relatively satisfied (3.67) with their current life. Therefore, it is necessary to enhance the implementation of social capital to promote implementation of self - esteem, in order to contributes to improving life satisfaction. It is very important for local authorities and policy makers to develop programs to promote the enhancement of the components of social capital to increase the life satisfaction of the southern Khmer in Viet Nam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the advantages of natural and human tourism resources, the Bay Nui region of An Giang province has developed several distinct and specific tourism products of the Khmer ethnic people, contributing to the development of livelihoods for local communities direction. The article introduces and analyzes the advantages to develop specific tourism products for the Khmer ethnic people in the Bay Nui region of An Giang province, Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chapter 2 of the book "Construire Le Corps Feminin: Pratiques obstétricales et biomédicalisation de l'accouchement au Cambodge" by Clemence Schantz is presented. Topics discussed in the chapter include the popular Khmer religion, obstetric practices in Cambodia, and Brahmanism and Mahayana Buddhism.

Khmer Girls in Action in Long Beach cultivates the leadership of high school-aged students from refugee families to organize for gender, racial, and economic justice in their communities. This article looks at the knowledge that KGA's youth organizing produces about the institutional roots of the deportation of Cambodian refugees. The youth connect the U.S. war in Cambodia with the war on crime and gangs in Long Beach to call into question the deportable "criminal alien" and the benevolent resettlement narrative. They redefine what counts as immigrant rights through their campaigns to address disciplinary practices in their schools and police surveillance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamic technological characteristics and diverse cultural potential of iron make it one of the most influential materials for facilitating cultural transformation. Reconstructing how iron was managed is an important way to understand political and socioeconomic issues in pre-modern state-level societies. In contrast to studies of smelting sites, the study of iron objects allows us to evaluate trends of production in relation to practice of consumption. By investigating a given class of iron objects, it is possible to document shifts in technical processes, cultural choices, and social organisation that are representative of a state or polities broader iron economy. This study outlines the use of comprehensive archaeometallurgical typology, a new approach combining technological, chronological, and “sourcing” analyses of iron architectural crampons from the Khmer capital of Angkor (ninth to fifteenth c. CE) in Cambodia. Our methodology was implemented on 69 iron crampons from three masonry complexes (the Royal Palace, Baphuon, and Preah Khan) spanning the tenth to thirteenth centuries. Compiling a vast and statistically significant data set enables us to identify diachronic changes of production and manufacturing patterns that seem to be linked to key periods of expansion of the Khmer Empire. These patterns represent the first phase in reconstructing the iron economy of the most influential polities in mainland Southeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the changing relationships between the living and the dead in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. Fuelled with fear, confusion, and massive displacement, these relationships initially consisted of distrustful interactions. Over time, however, reciprocal relations of support were established, enabling a transformation of the dead from frightened and frightening beings, to benevolent allies in the reconstruction of post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia. These relationships allowed both the living and the dead to be brought in from the ‘forest’, thus showing how managing the dead was an integral aspect of post-conflict security. By comparing such relationships at Choeung Ek Genocidal Center (a national memorial site) and Koh Sap (an island in the Bassac River) this article shows how the dead replicate the locally situated politics of the living in these encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explain the enduring persistence of gender inequality, structural explanations alone are not sufficient. One must look at the realm of cultural ideas to understand the entrenched nature of female subordination. Ideological inequalities embedded in cultural beliefs and practices sustain and perpetuate structural inequalities. This article explores ideological inequalities in Cambodian culture as an explanation for the reluctance of rural widows to remarry, despite the economic benefits that a new husband would likely bring. Using concepts from the theory of the social construction of reality, two cultural sources for widows' reluctance are considered, the beliefs and practices of Khmer Buddhism and the chbab srey, an influential moral code for women. The article theorizes that widows shy away from remarriage because Khmer religious and social customs place women into an ideologically subordinate position in the household. Widows fear that in a new marriage, they would lose control over their household and their children's lives. By remaining widows, they have cultural space to reject female subordination, maintain control of their household, and focus on their role as mothers to earn religious merit for their next life. Instead of ideological inequalities that subordinate women, modified cultural arrangements can create ideological equalities that nurture both men and women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I aim to discuss the notion of potency as attributed or inherent to a place through the study of the performance space in which the Khmer ritual classical theatre is staged. Here, the potency of the place results from a complex and cumulative process that strengthens the rite. Through a deliberately identified topography, a space is delimited, constructed and periodically activated so a community can safely transit from one yearly cycle to the next. In so doing, the ritual performance highlights nuanced qualities as well as social and religious considerations of space, and its relation to power. Considering the location’s contribution to the rite helps not only to discuss the relation of people to space but also brings greater understanding to performance as a religious expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cambodia is strewn with places of national, local or, most frequently, village importance, considered as potent places, that is to say, places that are said to have agency and a positive or negative power of interaction with human beings. This paper emphasises the constituent principles of potency using case studies based on ethnographic research conducted between 2007 and 2015 in Pursat province, western Cambodia. Beginning with the analysis of the sanctuary of a powerful land guardian spirit called Khleang Muang, the author progressively guides the reader to all the potent places that form a network which spatially tells the legend of the sixteenth-century Khmer King Ang Chan who passed by Pursat, coming from Angkor and settled in Lovek (south of Tonle Sap Lake). Violent death and sacrifices, rituals, spiritual energy calledparamī, old buildings, monasteries, precious tableware kept in the soil, trees, stones, termite mounds … all those constituents of the potency of the places are analysed. The author’s discussion of the core of potency (pāramīandparamī) enables her to show how Buddhism and land guardian spirit cults are entangled in a single still hierarchical religious system. Finally, the author analyses how potent places in Cambodia embody a process of localisation of the nation-level institution of monarchy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholarship on Muslims in Cambodia often revolves around a series of cultural, religious and social contrasts between Champa and Cambodia, between Chams and Khmers. Yet such an approach depends in turn on an apprehension of ethnic boundaries as given, fixed, and permanent. Consideration of two Cham rituals suggests a more nuanced perspective. These rituals are the Imam San Mawlid, a Muslim saint’s anniversary, and the Mamun, a possession ceremony to invite royal spirits. While both events are said to celebrate Cham culture and history, Khmer elements make the flexibility, the porosity and the fluidity of identities finally rendered illusive, if not inseparable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of L'Homme: Revue Française d'Anthropologie is the property of Editions EHESS and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aid donors, civil society groups and the Cambodian government have tended to focus their policy initiatives concerned with communities and their forests on Cambodia's indigenous minorities. Few attempts have been made to document the relationship between ethnic Khmers and forests. However, with almost three quarters of Cambodia covered with forests until quite recently, and a large proportion of the Khmer population living in proximity to forests, it is not surprising that Cambodia's dominant ethnic group has had a close and meaningful relationship with forests. In this article, we examine the traditional systems of forest management of Khmer social groups and how these systems are changing. We argue that traditional Khmer systems of forest management are still relevant in the context of the rapid changes that have occurred in rural Cambodia over the past two decades. These systems shape how Khmer groups make sense of the natural world and claim rights of tenure over forest areas. They continue to play a vital role in preserving Cambodia's natural forests in the face of deforestation driven by plantation schemes and logging operations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented which discusses the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in Cambodia and the polity Campā, Vietnam from the 10th through the 13th centuries. Particular focus is given to the relationship between the development of Tantric Buddhism and Avalokiteśvara. An overview of the depiction of Avalokiteśvara in Khmer bronze statues is provided. Buddhist texts and manuscripts, including from Campā and Cambodia, are discussed.

This paper describes the protracted struggles by ethnic Khmers in An Giang Province to regain farmland taken from them by ethnic Vietnamese migrants during their forced absence from the Vietnam-Cambodian border during and after the Third Indochina War. Efforts by the original landowners to organize collectively to seek justice from national authorities were stifled by local officials motivated to preserve the new status quo and were ideologically delegitimized by members of the rural middle class. The findings shed new light on ethnic minority political agency and show how the Vietnamese state is drawn materially and discursively into conflicts between competing social groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the borderlands of northeastern Cambodia, booming regional demand for luxury rosewood timber has seen the recent expansion of illegal cross-border logging in Laos. This article outlines Khmer–Lao villagers’ interactions with border authorities that enable their cross-border logging and their construction of anti-elite political narratives to critically engage with other ethnographic studies of the remote borderlands in Asia. I argue that in the quest to challenge dominant top-down assumptions of the remote borderlands as beyond state power and to highlight the unique dynamics of borderlands, ethnographic studies of these regions can focus overly on political opposition. I propose more recognition of, firstly, the desire and distrust in borderlanders’ engagements with different authorities, and secondly, the commonalities in contestation that emerge across different national spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the discovery of heritage language (HL)and community language (CL) education in the U.S. Topics discussed include history of HL/CL in the country, challenges and needs of community-based HL/CL programs, and HC/CL education in the Korean and Khmer communities. Among the needs discussed include need to cultivate broad-based support, need for more resources, and need for more appropriate curriculum, materials, and instruction.

The notion that Cambodia's highland people may claim a distinct 'Indigenous' identity has emerged only recently in Cambodia. To date, advocacy for rights under the banner of indigeneity has produced few results for highlanders. Among the problems faced by advocates for Indigenous rights, problems of definition and translation represent an important challenge. Arguing that concepts like 'Indigeneity' are not simply adopted ex nihilo in new settings, but are rather incorporated into existing structures of meaning, this paper explores culturally produced understandings of who highlanders are, concentrating in particular on the way that the term 'Indigenous' has been translated into Khmer. The use of the Khmer word daeum, or 'original', to distinguish between Indigenous and other forms of ethnic belonging in the newly derived translation of 'Indigenous Peoples' points to historically sedimented beliefs about highlanders as living ancestors of modern Khmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay argues that to understand twentieth-century Khmer-Vietnamese ethnic antagonism, the contest for the lower Mekong Delta (in today's Vietnam) since the mid-eighteenth century has been key. It argues, however, that while this pre-1945 background can explain antagonism, it cannot sufficiently explain the violence between Khmer and Vietnamese that occurred after 1945. For that, the First Indochina War (1945–54) and decolonization marked a turning point. This period saw the creation of a dynamic of violence between Khmer and Vietnamese that hardened ethnic antagonisms, shaped the character of the war, and affected arguments over sovereignty. This dynamic of violence also contributed, in the long run, to a common Cambodian antagonism to the Vietnamese, including that of the Khmer Rouge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the latter half of the twentieth century thousands of Khmer people were displaced from their homes along the freshwater rivers of Vietnam's Mekong delta. Their pattern of settlement along freshwater tidal rivers was an ecological adaptation unique in the Khmer-speaking world, of which only vestiges remain. Drawing upon oral histories and ethnographic observations of O Mon, a district in the central Mekong delta, this paper reconstructs a picture of the traditional river-based livelihoods, social structure and religious life of Khmers in this region in the 1940s. It describes how these Khmers were driven from their villages early in the First Indochina War. Experiencing ongoing dislocations in subsequent periods of war and peace, most have been prevented from returning to their former homes or reclaiming their land. Relying on testimony by elderly Khmers, who witnessed the disintegration of their riverside communities, the account challenges existing depictions of the ecology and history of the Mekong delta, offering new insights into the complexity of the Indochina wars and the severity of their consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

'Baan' is a polyfunctional word in Khmer, and some researchers have overlooked its use as a time locator and as a head for postverbal adverbial adjuncts of manner. This verb's use should also be distinguished between its appearance immediately adjacent to the main verb and before the clause's subject.

A narrative sponsored by Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen posits the prime minister as the reincarnation of sixteenth-century king Sdech Kân, a commoner who toppled the king at the time and ascended the throne. Whilst reincarnation narratives have wider Southeast Asian resonances, the reinvention of Sdech Kân is central to the redrawing of boundaries of power between a politically weakened monarchy and the Cambodian People's Party-led government. This article traces the meanings of reincarnating Sdech Kân in the contemporary Cambodian context, and what consequences this has for contemporary bids for political legitimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Khmer language has many binomial coordinate compounds similar to English expressions such as 'give and take' and 'pell mell,' except that the Khmer expressions are not playful and are based on alliteration. Khmer is an exclusively prefixing language, and this principle may explain the tendency to mark linguistic symmetry.

This article examined the various ethnic identities of Cambodian students, a group often perceived by the larger society through the lens of the model minority stereotype but often endure low expectations from teachers and counselors in their local high schools. Our findings suggested that a Cambodian identity was often considered a stigmatized label and students identified as Cambodian were essentialized into the discourse of urban low achieving and culturally deficient minority students. Cambodian students' identities in the less selective academic programs were often quite visible to teachers. This characterization was often coupled with a panethnic representation of Asian American students in selective programs who were considered motivated and supported by advantageous home and cultural values. In these contexts, teachers preferred to discuss Cambodian students in panethnic terms, ignoring students' ethnic backgrounds, described their Cambodian students as part of their 'bright Asian students' group. Overall, this study extends other works on Asian American ethnicity and panethnicity by focusing on the conflicting identities that affect the schooling of Cambodian students. These analyses complicate further the static notion of Asian American students as model minorities by emphasizing the fluid, problematic, and contextually-based nature of the construct. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qn interview with the Khmer American rap artist praCh, discussing his identity as an Asian American artist and his political and cultural musical creations is presented. Subjects discussed include his views on his artistic career as a musician, his personal grappling with cultural identity, and the extent of his personal cultural connection to Cambodian history.

The medieval Khmer built an extensive road system from their capital of Angkor across vast stretches of mainland Southeast Asia. Integrating the concepts of structure and accessibility it is apparent that this system serves to connect the capital with Khmer centres near important geographic resources, such as iron and copper, and the regional river network. While these roads served multiple purposes their formalization is directly linked to the movement of critical economic commodities and ensuring the security of the Empire's core. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers an examination of the 1973 holy war in post-independence Cambodia fought between troops led by Theravada Buddhist General Lon Nol and those individuals who were considered the "thmil" or non-believers, a group largely comprised of Communist Khmer and Vietnamese troops. It discusses how the war was fueled by a militarized reading of the Buddhist dhamma and existence of long-held ethnic attitudes between the Khmers and the Vietnamese and it explores how Cambodia sought to find its identity after gaining independence.

This paper focuses on the institutional mode of academic knowledge production in Cambodia since the beginning of the colonial period. It addresses the importance of French official orientalism represented by the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient and its role in constructing a reified narrative of the nation state of Cambodia centred on the Angkorian "golden age" while orientating intellectual "modernization" through the renovation of Buddhism. This top-down approach was pursued by the successive post-independence regimes — to the exclusion of the Khmer Rouge who systematically destroyed Cambodia's intellectual and cultural life. In contradiction with state initiatives, a few researchers — mostly French and Cambodians — chose to orientate their research toward ethnographically relevant subjects, taking Cambodian society as principal agent of cultural and historical meaning. This trend, referred to as "Khmer Studies", found its programmatic autonomy among exiled Cambodian intellectuals in the 1980s, paving the way for grass-root initiatives developed in Cambodia in the wake of its re-opening in the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Botany is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on women's ideals and practices in contemporary Siem Reap, Cambodia. The destabilization of traditional Khmer ideals relating to Cambodian womanhood or femininity, the idea of making sense of cultural norms for female behavior, and the reordering of gender relations to achieve equality are discussed. The negotiation of women's rights and social norms in the context of mobility and education is discussed. The "Chbap Srie" or code for women that is a combination of Buddhist principles and popular custom is mentioned. The concept of equality during the Khmer Rouge regime is noted.

This paper focuses on the institutional mode of academic knowledge production in Cambodia since the beginning of the colonial period. It addresses the importance of French official orientalism represented by the Ecole Française d'Extrême-Orient and its role in constructing a reified narrative of the nation state of Cambodia centred on the Angkorian "golden age" while orientating intellectual "modernization" through the renovation of Buddhism. This top-down approach was pursued by the successive post-independence regimes — to the exclusion of the Khmer Rouge who systematically destroyed Cambodia's intellectual and cultural life. In contradiction with state initiatives, a few researchers — mostly French and Cambodians — chose to orientate their research toward ethnographically relevant subjects, taking Cambodian society as principal agent of cultural and historical meaning. This trend, referred to as "Khmer studies", found its programmatic autonomy among exiled Cambodian intellectuals in the 1980s, paving the way for grass-root initiatives developed in Cambodia in the wake of its reopening in the 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores the historical legacy of colonialism and territorialism in Cambodia. The author reflects on border protection following national independence and the role of indigenous traditions rooted in Theravada Buddhism that influence the aetiology of Khmer territorialism. Emphasis is given to the traditional mandala arrangement of space and monastic conceptions of ritual boundary that were refined under the influence of Buddhist modernization. It is suggested that secularized religious concepts play a vital role in Cambodian social conditions during the early 21st century.

The article explores the history of the administrative boundary between Laos and Cambodia within the context of international borders in Southeast Asia. The author reflects on sustained tensions that have existed between the nations since independence. Emphasis is given to the role of irredentist sentiment among ethnic Lao people and ethnic Khmer people. It is suggested that different framing of history has influenced the development of ethnic identities in the context of international boundaries and irredentism.

A comprehensive quantitative petrographic database of sandstones used by the Khmers for sculptural purposes would be a helpful tool for archaeologists, museum curators and others interested in pursuing research on early stone usage, geological source and provenance. Towards that end, this paper presents quantitative petrographic analysis of stone materials used in the production of some free-standing sculptures and architectural elements in the Koh Ker style of the 10th century from the collections of the National Museum of Cambodia and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. These materials are compared to samples from the quarry of Thmâ Anlong near the foothills of the Phnom Kulen, Sieam Reap province. Primary and secondary detrital modes and key grain-size parameters are used to identify three sandstone types. The free-standing sculptures are carved from feldspathic arenite and feldspato-lithic to litho-feldspathic arenite. Finely carved lintels are worked from a quartz arenite, which is significantly richer in quartz grains and of a finer grain size. The geological source of the two other lithotypes will have to await detailed geological survey of the Koh Ker area accompanied by petrographic study of selected samples from documented quarries. The significance and potentiality of quantitative petrographic study of Khmer stone materials are shown in supporting and integrating archaeological investigations in South-East Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]