The popular perception of Cambodia as a place of danger and violence has given way to that of sou... more The popular perception of Cambodia as a place of danger and violence has given way to that of sought-after holiday destination. Passing Wat Ounalom, tourists have no idea that within its walls lives a septuagenarian monk named Tep Vong, the highest-ranked Buddhist in the land, the ‘King of Kings of Monks’, regarded as one of the most politically influential men in the country. Some ninety-five per cent of Cambodia’s population – including over forty thousand monks - looks to him for moral guidance and spiritual succour. Tep Vong has been a key player in re-establishing Buddhism in Cambodia since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979; yet he is also subject to constant criticism for his actions and alliances. Allegations of corruption and nepotism follow his every move. Is it possible that the most spiritually enlightened member of the Cambodian Buddhist community is also a power-hungry manipulator? Or has Tep Vong simply been used by unscrupulous politicians to further their own ends?
An excerpt, the preamble to a Cambodian law originally dating back to at least the 17th century, ... more An excerpt, the preamble to a Cambodian law originally dating back to at least the 17th century, has all the hallmarks of a despotic society: a jealous tyrant; an illicit palace liaison; and barbaric punishments enacted upon the condemned. Yet these executions took place in 1875, during the reign of King Norodom (r1863-1904), when Cambodia had already been a French Protectorat for over a decade. Although the French had kept Norodom on the throne believing him to be amenable to the colonial project, the administration had found him reluctant to abandon elements of traditional Cambodian kingship that they found archaic. Amongst their concerns was the Cambodian 'harem'. A large number of women, their number 'varied and considerable' (Moura 1883:231), who existed for the sexual pleasure of the king was, frankly, embarrassing. How could the colonial project be deemed successful when institutional slavery was permitted to continue? The emancipation of the women of the pala...
No longer part of French Indochina from 1953, Cambodia’s first steps toward democracy were enthus... more No longer part of French Indochina from 1953, Cambodia’s first steps toward democracy were enthusiastically received by all. Before long, however, excitement turned to consternation. King Sihanouk abdicated in 1955 in order to participate directly in politics—yet seemed reluctant to abide by democratic principles. Improvements to education, public health, and basic infrastructure were short-lived. The war in neighbouring Vietnam soon spilled over into Cambodia, causing a refugee crisis and diplomatic strain. Corruption prevailed at all levels of the government. Western criticism set Cambodia on a course toward the communist bloc. In a polarised world, there were only two ways in which the domino of Cambodia could fall—and the events of 1945–1975 ensured which direction it took.
Was there ever a tradition of bhikkhunī in Cambodia? The precincts of wats, or Buddhist temples, ... more Was there ever a tradition of bhikkhunī in Cambodia? The precincts of wats, or Buddhist temples, in modern-day Cambodia usually include a handful of white-clad, shaven-headed women, whose status hovers somewhere between upāsikā and novice monk. Yet the inscriptions of the past refer often to a corpus of women as “nuns”. What are we to make of this seeming dichotomy?This paper explores the inscriptions of the 13th to 18th centuries– the period in which Theravada Buddhism became entrenched as the national religion – for an answer.
The years between 1900 and World War II were momentous ones for Cambodia. In less than half a cen... more The years between 1900 and World War II were momentous ones for Cambodia. In less than half a century, slavery was abolished, the power of the monarchy all but eradicated, and independence declared. Reforms implemented in the 1920s and 1930s gave more Cambodians than ever before access to education and health services. Yet these same policies allowed Cambodians to compare their lot with those of their Vietnamese neighbours, and ultimately to learn of alternatives to imperialism. The Japanese interregnum in 1945 provided a space in which these dissatisfactions could be aired. The fleeting period of self-rule between March and September 1945 forever changed the way that Cambodia engaged with the west—and, soon, the communist bloc.
A large class of equivalence relations between the moduli spaces of instantons on ALE spaces and ... more A large class of equivalence relations between the moduli spaces of instantons on ALE spaces and the Higgs branches of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories, are found by means of a certain kind of duality transformation between brane configurations in superstring theories. 4d, N=2 and 5d, N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with product gauge groups turn out to correspond to the ALE-instanton moduli of type II B and type II A superstring theories, respectively.
In the Cambodian past, strict guidelines detailed punishments and compensatory arrangements shoul... more In the Cambodian past, strict guidelines detailed punishments and compensatory arrangements should laws concerning the treatment of persons temporarily entered into debt bondage be transgressed. Although the legal protections that these permitted were abolished by the French colonial administration, the practices themselves remained. Not all "slaves" were condemned to a life of servitude; often, individuals or their families entered into contracts in which their labor was pledged for a set period. Daughters' labor could most easily be given up by families seeking to borrow a lump sum from a wealthy patron. When laws protecting such girls were removed, there was no longer any effective barrier preventing their temporary masters and mistresses from abusing them. The initial failure of colonial legislators to understand debt bondage as distinct from slavery explains the endurance of human trafficking and the proliferation of increasingly younger children in the sex sector in Cambodia today. We cannot look at Cambodia without constantly being reminded of its recent past. Only a generation ago, approximately 2.52 million people died due to the poor policies and brutal repression of the state in its Democratic Kampuchea iteration. Yet there are other less tangible elements of the Cambodian past embedded in the collective cultural consciousness. One of these is the continued prevalence of debt bondage. The practice of pledging one's own labor or that of a relative in return for a lump sum of cash, goods, or service remains commonplace in a country where little access to state-sponsored economic relief, or even a private credit system, exists. 1 The nature of the labor may or may not include sexual services; the persons pledged are, for all intents and purposes, completely at the mercy of their "owners"-who can sell or gift their labor to someone else if they are so inclined, as no law exists to protect those who are bonded in this manner. The system is thus open to abuse. Yet this was not always the case. Prior to the advent of colonialism and Western notions of individual rights, people who were bonded in service, either temporarily or permanently, were protected by a complex code of laws. The historical record reveals many instances when persons in debt bondage complained about their treatment and these laws were invoked to protect them. Why does this no longer occur? More important, why do people continue to pledge their labor for debt, knowing that these protections no longer exist? 1 Women face more difficulties than men in of approaching banks and international organizations for loans because of their lower levels of education as well as social constraints toward female entrepreneurship (World Bank, 2009, pp. 3-4).
… political participation and representation in Asia: …, 2008
Page 168. Chapter 7 beyond apsara: women, tradition and trajectories in cambodian politics Trudy ... more Page 168. Chapter 7 beyond apsara: women, tradition and trajectories in cambodian politics Trudy Jacobsen Cambodia seems to have progressed a long way towards reconciliation and re-construction since 7 January 1979 ...
Preface xi Glossary xv 1. Introducing the Goddesses 1 Framing women and power in Cambodia • Princ... more Preface xi Glossary xv 1. Introducing the Goddesses 1 Framing women and power in Cambodia • Principles for a methodology covering 2000 years • Reading the past in the present 2. Devi, Rajñi, Dasi, Mat 17 Mythological role-models • Queens among men • Deconstruct ing Jayavarman II • Women, 'matriliny', and marriage • Beyond the elite 3. Behind the Apsara 42 A fall from grace? • The kanlong kamraten an • Women of the palace • Social strictures and daily life 4. Goddesses Lost? 74 Patron princesses, querulous queens • Life at court • Beyond the palace walls 5. Hostages, Heroines and Hostilities 109 The reign of Queen Ang Mei • The misogyny of Ang Duong • The Cbpab Srei • Revisionist (female) histories 6. 'Traditional' Cambodia 131 Love and marriage • Women in public and private • Female power in the spiritual realm 7. Cherchez la femme 148 Exoticism and 'encongayment' • Emancipation and exploitation • The (failed) institutionalisation of midwifery • Education and exhibition • Constructing a 'traditional' Cambodian identity 8. 'Liberation' 181 Sex in the Sangkum • Private spaces, sacred places • The Khmer Republic • Fine lines: Mobilisation and morality Lost Goddesses viii 9. Into the fields 218 The gender-neutral state • Obedience and obfuscation • Gendered punishment • The triumph of 'tradition' 10. Picking Up the Pieces 238
... lessons for the present1 Trudy Jacobsen ... The local people gave the br¯ahma na 'their ... more ... lessons for the present1 Trudy Jacobsen ... The local people gave the br¯ahma na 'their daughters in marriage, so often they do not want to leave'. Pelliot, P. (1903), 'Le Fou-nan', Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient [hereafter BEFEO], Vol 3, pp 248303, at p 279. ...
The popular perception of Cambodia as a place of danger and violence has given way to that of sou... more The popular perception of Cambodia as a place of danger and violence has given way to that of sought-after holiday destination. Passing Wat Ounalom, tourists have no idea that within its walls lives a septuagenarian monk named Tep Vong, the highest-ranked Buddhist in the land, the ‘King of Kings of Monks’, regarded as one of the most politically influential men in the country. Some ninety-five per cent of Cambodia’s population – including over forty thousand monks - looks to him for moral guidance and spiritual succour. Tep Vong has been a key player in re-establishing Buddhism in Cambodia since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979; yet he is also subject to constant criticism for his actions and alliances. Allegations of corruption and nepotism follow his every move. Is it possible that the most spiritually enlightened member of the Cambodian Buddhist community is also a power-hungry manipulator? Or has Tep Vong simply been used by unscrupulous politicians to further their own ends?
An excerpt, the preamble to a Cambodian law originally dating back to at least the 17th century, ... more An excerpt, the preamble to a Cambodian law originally dating back to at least the 17th century, has all the hallmarks of a despotic society: a jealous tyrant; an illicit palace liaison; and barbaric punishments enacted upon the condemned. Yet these executions took place in 1875, during the reign of King Norodom (r1863-1904), when Cambodia had already been a French Protectorat for over a decade. Although the French had kept Norodom on the throne believing him to be amenable to the colonial project, the administration had found him reluctant to abandon elements of traditional Cambodian kingship that they found archaic. Amongst their concerns was the Cambodian 'harem'. A large number of women, their number 'varied and considerable' (Moura 1883:231), who existed for the sexual pleasure of the king was, frankly, embarrassing. How could the colonial project be deemed successful when institutional slavery was permitted to continue? The emancipation of the women of the pala...
No longer part of French Indochina from 1953, Cambodia’s first steps toward democracy were enthus... more No longer part of French Indochina from 1953, Cambodia’s first steps toward democracy were enthusiastically received by all. Before long, however, excitement turned to consternation. King Sihanouk abdicated in 1955 in order to participate directly in politics—yet seemed reluctant to abide by democratic principles. Improvements to education, public health, and basic infrastructure were short-lived. The war in neighbouring Vietnam soon spilled over into Cambodia, causing a refugee crisis and diplomatic strain. Corruption prevailed at all levels of the government. Western criticism set Cambodia on a course toward the communist bloc. In a polarised world, there were only two ways in which the domino of Cambodia could fall—and the events of 1945–1975 ensured which direction it took.
Was there ever a tradition of bhikkhunī in Cambodia? The precincts of wats, or Buddhist temples, ... more Was there ever a tradition of bhikkhunī in Cambodia? The precincts of wats, or Buddhist temples, in modern-day Cambodia usually include a handful of white-clad, shaven-headed women, whose status hovers somewhere between upāsikā and novice monk. Yet the inscriptions of the past refer often to a corpus of women as “nuns”. What are we to make of this seeming dichotomy?This paper explores the inscriptions of the 13th to 18th centuries– the period in which Theravada Buddhism became entrenched as the national religion – for an answer.
The years between 1900 and World War II were momentous ones for Cambodia. In less than half a cen... more The years between 1900 and World War II were momentous ones for Cambodia. In less than half a century, slavery was abolished, the power of the monarchy all but eradicated, and independence declared. Reforms implemented in the 1920s and 1930s gave more Cambodians than ever before access to education and health services. Yet these same policies allowed Cambodians to compare their lot with those of their Vietnamese neighbours, and ultimately to learn of alternatives to imperialism. The Japanese interregnum in 1945 provided a space in which these dissatisfactions could be aired. The fleeting period of self-rule between March and September 1945 forever changed the way that Cambodia engaged with the west—and, soon, the communist bloc.
A large class of equivalence relations between the moduli spaces of instantons on ALE spaces and ... more A large class of equivalence relations between the moduli spaces of instantons on ALE spaces and the Higgs branches of supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories, are found by means of a certain kind of duality transformation between brane configurations in superstring theories. 4d, N=2 and 5d, N=1 supersymmetric gauge theories with product gauge groups turn out to correspond to the ALE-instanton moduli of type II B and type II A superstring theories, respectively.
In the Cambodian past, strict guidelines detailed punishments and compensatory arrangements shoul... more In the Cambodian past, strict guidelines detailed punishments and compensatory arrangements should laws concerning the treatment of persons temporarily entered into debt bondage be transgressed. Although the legal protections that these permitted were abolished by the French colonial administration, the practices themselves remained. Not all "slaves" were condemned to a life of servitude; often, individuals or their families entered into contracts in which their labor was pledged for a set period. Daughters' labor could most easily be given up by families seeking to borrow a lump sum from a wealthy patron. When laws protecting such girls were removed, there was no longer any effective barrier preventing their temporary masters and mistresses from abusing them. The initial failure of colonial legislators to understand debt bondage as distinct from slavery explains the endurance of human trafficking and the proliferation of increasingly younger children in the sex sector in Cambodia today. We cannot look at Cambodia without constantly being reminded of its recent past. Only a generation ago, approximately 2.52 million people died due to the poor policies and brutal repression of the state in its Democratic Kampuchea iteration. Yet there are other less tangible elements of the Cambodian past embedded in the collective cultural consciousness. One of these is the continued prevalence of debt bondage. The practice of pledging one's own labor or that of a relative in return for a lump sum of cash, goods, or service remains commonplace in a country where little access to state-sponsored economic relief, or even a private credit system, exists. 1 The nature of the labor may or may not include sexual services; the persons pledged are, for all intents and purposes, completely at the mercy of their "owners"-who can sell or gift their labor to someone else if they are so inclined, as no law exists to protect those who are bonded in this manner. The system is thus open to abuse. Yet this was not always the case. Prior to the advent of colonialism and Western notions of individual rights, people who were bonded in service, either temporarily or permanently, were protected by a complex code of laws. The historical record reveals many instances when persons in debt bondage complained about their treatment and these laws were invoked to protect them. Why does this no longer occur? More important, why do people continue to pledge their labor for debt, knowing that these protections no longer exist? 1 Women face more difficulties than men in of approaching banks and international organizations for loans because of their lower levels of education as well as social constraints toward female entrepreneurship (World Bank, 2009, pp. 3-4).
… political participation and representation in Asia: …, 2008
Page 168. Chapter 7 beyond apsara: women, tradition and trajectories in cambodian politics Trudy ... more Page 168. Chapter 7 beyond apsara: women, tradition and trajectories in cambodian politics Trudy Jacobsen Cambodia seems to have progressed a long way towards reconciliation and re-construction since 7 January 1979 ...
Preface xi Glossary xv 1. Introducing the Goddesses 1 Framing women and power in Cambodia • Princ... more Preface xi Glossary xv 1. Introducing the Goddesses 1 Framing women and power in Cambodia • Principles for a methodology covering 2000 years • Reading the past in the present 2. Devi, Rajñi, Dasi, Mat 17 Mythological role-models • Queens among men • Deconstruct ing Jayavarman II • Women, 'matriliny', and marriage • Beyond the elite 3. Behind the Apsara 42 A fall from grace? • The kanlong kamraten an • Women of the palace • Social strictures and daily life 4. Goddesses Lost? 74 Patron princesses, querulous queens • Life at court • Beyond the palace walls 5. Hostages, Heroines and Hostilities 109 The reign of Queen Ang Mei • The misogyny of Ang Duong • The Cbpab Srei • Revisionist (female) histories 6. 'Traditional' Cambodia 131 Love and marriage • Women in public and private • Female power in the spiritual realm 7. Cherchez la femme 148 Exoticism and 'encongayment' • Emancipation and exploitation • The (failed) institutionalisation of midwifery • Education and exhibition • Constructing a 'traditional' Cambodian identity 8. 'Liberation' 181 Sex in the Sangkum • Private spaces, sacred places • The Khmer Republic • Fine lines: Mobilisation and morality Lost Goddesses viii 9. Into the fields 218 The gender-neutral state • Obedience and obfuscation • Gendered punishment • The triumph of 'tradition' 10. Picking Up the Pieces 238
... lessons for the present1 Trudy Jacobsen ... The local people gave the br¯ahma na 'their ... more ... lessons for the present1 Trudy Jacobsen ... The local people gave the br¯ahma na 'their daughters in marriage, so often they do not want to leave'. Pelliot, P. (1903), 'Le Fou-nan', Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient [hereafter BEFEO], Vol 3, pp 248303, at p 279. ...
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