FROM UTOPIA TO REALITY

Conflict resolution and rural Cambodia

VALUE OF UTOPIAS

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

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CAMBODIA 20 YEARS ON

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?

RURAL CAMBODIA - BASICS

poorest country in SE Asia

70% of population in rural

30% of them very poor

many marginalised: women, landless, indigenous people

RURAL CAMBODIA - BASICS

‘subsistence’ farmers villages remote,

autarchic distrust of state ‘between temple and

forest’ – cosmological setting

MEDIATION / CONFLICT RESOLUTION?

strong preference for village resolution

courts routinely corrupt, expensive, remote

culture of impunity

WHY IS MEDIATION IMPORTANT?

to address village problems typically (domestic) violence, gangs, local land disputes

to manage a long tradition of violence

ALTERNATIVES

WHY IS MEDIATION IMPORTANT?

to maintain village harmony

to provide venue for change

to provide support for changes to structures that maintain inequality

HOW TO MOVE OUT OF POVERTY

changes needed now well understood

access to ways to challenge structural inequalities

CAMBODIAN VILLAGERS

CAMBODIAN VILLAGERS

FROM UTOPIA TO REALITY

Critical backgrounds

CRITICAL BACKGROUNDS

Contexts of conflict in Cambodia cultural / political / econ

historical / cosmological

geographical: neighbours

regional / national

WHERE ARE WE?

CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

Intensely hierarchical

King as cosmological centre

Khsae – strings reaching across the kingdom / neo-patrimonialism /

CENTRE OF THE COSMOS

LINKS FROM THE CENTRE

CONNECTIONS

everyone in a hierarchy

everyone in relationship

importance of patrons in providing safety net

patrons provide backing in conflict resolution processes

CONNECTIONS

everyone knows their place

reinforcers ubiquitous

all but family negotiable

political allegiances fit well

reciprocation of favours

TO PERIPHERIES

FROM UTOPIA TO REALITY

Conflict resolution formal and informal systems

‘INFORMAL’ SYSTEMS

Village level chief / ‘father’

(mother) enforceable / social

forces unequals but accepted somroh somruel – to

achieve a happy agreement

‘VILLAGE BABY MEETING PURSAT

‘FORMAL’ SYSTEMS

Beyond the village courts

remote expensive dangerous

manipulated by the powerful

PARALLEL TRADITIONAL SYSTEM

Parallel to courts King and okya (rich

courtiers) - closed system

appeal direct to the King

SURVIVING TRADITIONS

protestors outside Hun Sen’s house

begging for PM’s influence

UNI OF PHNOM PENH STAFF AND STUDENTS BEGGING PM FOR HELP

FROM UTOPIA TO REALITY

UTOPIAS – mental constructs of what might be

and some realities

UTOPIAS

France – mission civilisatrice

Sihanouk – independence

USA – democratic Vietnam

Khmer Rouge – radical communist

UN – a peaceful Cambodia

UTOPIAS

UTOPIAS

2,756,941 tons of bombs

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.

UN AIMS 1An 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 2All of this was to be overseen by16,000 troops and 7,000 civilian personnel from more than 100 countries (34 troop providers) estimated $3 billion…

UN AIMS 3 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

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

IMPACTS FROM AN L-PLATE UN sought to solve the

macro international conflict

ignored history / culture / traditions

lack of background research

primitive awareness of conflict

default: rebuild the state

OUTCOMES

result: another version of traditional extractive elite

failed to establish legal protections – despite structures

re-opened country to regional and global economic forces

CURRENT NATIONAL REALITIES

one party state – Cambodian Peoples party (CPP

longest-serving strongman

neo-patrimonialism creating a favour

network beyond state structures

HOW IT WORKS

CPP needs largesse to distribute

selling the country / ‘rents’

legal impunity impacts on poor

/development CPP success at

elections

GLOBAL MEETS LOCAL

meanwhile UNDP long term work on decentralisation of decision-making

increased access to dispute resolution / training / education

result: increased awareness / satisfaction

VILLAGERS

NATIONAL MEETS LOCAL

money from CPP khsae overshadows formal development

so focus on visible symbols: temples and schools - but not teacher salaries - corruptions

REALITIES – LAND CONCESSIONS

NATIONAL MEETS LOCAL

Land concessions (ELCs) brutal dispossession murder / arrests / threats

Widespread discontent direct approaches to ‘king’

direct action / mass action

FROM UTOPIA TO REALITY

Aid flows / aid architecture / conflict

POSITIVE FORCES

UNDP / World Bank (WB) programs

hundreds / thousands of

intergovernmental program

local / supported NGOs

ROLE OF RESEARCH AND POLICY

Development theory now extensive local research critical nature of justice

(J4P) / poverty traps / migration / importance of health

importance of dispute resolution in addressing issues in all of this

NATIONAL REALITIES

stable ‘government’ / CPP

contradictions - national processes that derail local progress

creating instability / conflict across the country

LOCAL REALITIES

UNDP persistent role in local structural development

good level of satisfaction with new decision-making power

greater awareness of rights

appreciation of stability (old)

LOCAL / NATIONAL CLASH

now (again) functional conflict resolution at grass roots

dysfunctional conflict resolution at national level despite structures in place

problems when they meet

TTY GUARDS

FROM UTOPIA TO REALITY

Hindsight and learnings

THE VALUE OF HINDSIGHT

what else could have been done?

what have we learnt?

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN DONE?

research (but special case)

focus on the local assumed long-term greater focus on

accountability

THE BIG PICTURE

interconnected world global and regional

inputs constructive destructive

OUR REGIONAL PICTURE

regional coalitions / regional depredations

regional courts or accountabilities

LEARNING ABOUT CONFLICT

critical role of conflict in social development

Westerners and their assumptions of protected conflict

LEARNING FOR DONORS

Donors (taxpayers / donors) awareness of what is being done with our moneyawareness of need to strengthen processes to hold people to accountfailure creates conflict

CONCLUSIONS: PRINCIPLES FOR INTERVENTION PLANNING

conflict resolution development inevitably creates conflict

access to justice systems for poor and marginalized is crucial for overall development

CONCLUSIONS: FOR UTOPIANS

need to develop awareness of ‘compassionate donors’ and taxpayers re conflict

need to develop and extend formal accountability processes

CONCLUSIONS: FOR US HERE

need to increase appreciation of positive aspects of conflict

need to develop our understanding of role of conflict in change

Charity is no substitute for justice withheld