Wednesday, March 14, 2012

The Killing of Cambodia: Geography, Genocide and the Unmaking of Space

Prof. James A. Tyner
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
Published by the Documentation Center of Cambodia
Translated into the Khmer language by Y Manoka, Keo Ratanatepy, Kouy Bun Rong, Veng Visal
2012

Between 1975 and 1978, the Khmer Rouge carried out genocide in Cambodia unparalleled in modern history. Approximately 2 million died – almost one quarter of the population. Taking an explicitly geographical approach, this book argues whether the Khmer Rouge's activities not only led to genocide, but also terracide – the erasure of space. In the Cambodia of 1975, the landscape would reveal vestiges of an indigenous pre-colonial Khmer society, a French colonialism and American intervention. The Khmer Rouge, however, were not content with retaining the past inscriptions of previous modes of production and spatial practices. Instead, they attempted to erase time and space to create their own utopian vision of a communal society. The Khmer Rouge's erasing and reshaping of space was thus part of a consistent sacrifice of Cambodia and its people – a brutal justification for the killing of a country and the birth of a new place, Democratic Kampuchea. While focusing on Cambodia, the book provides a clearer geographic understanding to genocide in general and insights into the importance of spatial factors in geopolitical conflict.

DC-Cam Translation:

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I didn't see Khmer Rouge destroy Angkor Wat but who looted all the treasures in Cambodia? Where are the study about Vietnamese in Cambodia? Can anyone here show me a picture of Pol Pot carrying a gun? Pol Pot and massacres of his own people does not connect when to watch all documents again but all documents being propagated by American and Viet to disprove their genocide in Cambodia.

Anonymous said...

In an effort to colonize Cambodia Vietnam has utilized many tricks in Cambodia, particularly creating the Khmer Vietminh to destabilize it.


Does the international law allow one Country to abduct the children of its neighbors, brainwash them and later use them to attack their own Country and commit the mass killing of their own people?

Notice that Vietnam has kidnapped about five or six thousand Khmer children in the 50’s.

Vietnam did exactly like that to Cambodia. That's why approximately 3 million Cambodians have perished from 1975 to 1979 because of Vietnam's bad intention toward Cambodia. In effect, Vietnam has created Khmer Vietminh and brainwashed them to make Khmers fight with Khmers, to make Khmers kill each other.

In addition, hundreds of thousands of Khmer people, mostly men, died in the 80s due to Vietnam’s deployment of the K5 project.

If the killings during the Pol Pot’s era were not so clear that most of the killings were committed by the Khmer Vietminh, the K5 project on the other hand has explicitly reflected Vietnam’s vicious intention toward Cambodia because at the time Cambodia was fully controlled by Vietnam, which was the chief architect of the K5 project.

The United Nations should look into this unique case of Vietnam’s interference in Cambodia. It should examine at the present Vietnam’s dominance in Cambodia as well.

Our people have lamented that why Khmer people always suffer?

Because Vietnam has its own plan of making Cambodian people suffer by initiating war, making Khmer fight with Khmer, making Khmer kill each other, and exploit it.
Vietnam has always found some dumb Khmers such as Hun Sen to carry out strictly its orders – no matter what the costs to Khmer people and Cambodia.
For instance, why did Hun Sen implement those bilateral treaties with Vietnam and defy the 1991 Paris peace accord?

Vietnam was/is and will be the root of Khmer suffering because of its determination to absorb Cambodia and make Cambodia as part of Vietnam.

Anonymous said...

YES, AND THE BRAVES FIGHT FOR OTHER COPY ANKOR WATT NOT THE RIGHT OF THEIR PEOPLE!!!!

Anonymous said...

10:06 PM, you are absolutely correct. Thanks for spreading your knowledge and wisdom. Please continue to do so to educate more Khmers of the Yuon's dirty tricks and intentions so we do not have to respect leaders who are under the Yuon's ideology, violent, and abusive to our people any more.

Khmer Son

Anonymous said...

Whatever people are saying about what Vietnam has done still does not justify what Pol Pot & KR have done to the Khmer race. Let's be real and take a good look

Anonymous said...

10 06 I agree with you. In a young generation, to say that the 7th January Invasion was to save Khmer doesn't make sense. Why would they save Khmer prior to UN intervention, just days before UN wee to investigate the Khmer Rouge. Also Angka Lueor was heard was te real killer ordered most of the killings, why was there no mentioned of Angka Luers, no documents or such, it does seems the after war documents was a US properganda played out by the US and Vietnam putting a blame on us. Wasn't it te US that bombs us earlier causing havok to the country, then it was these Vietminh that were trained by the Vietnamese that set everything in
Motion, as a result we don't hear any of their responsibility or doings.

Aus

Anonymous said...

1:06 AM and 4:23 AM

You are right. The UN was about to enter Cambodia to investigate the killings, but Vietnam knew this UN’s intervention in advance. So, Vietnam must launch an all out war to destroy the Khmer rouge to deter the UN from finding the real killers beside the Khmer Rouge.

Prof. James Tyner should do some more research in order to understand Vietnam intention toward Cambodia.