12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress, 8-12 July 2013
University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Campus, Suva, Fiji
Contesting and competing discourses:
the politics of land and development
Puthsodary TAT1, PhD
1The American University of Afghanistan
Email: tputhsodary@auaf.edu.au
Cambodia have been considered as post-conflict nations
in Southeast Asia. Policy-makers, economic experts and
researchers have studied the aftermath of civil war on
renewed conflict, mitigation of violent conflict, land and
property rights and economic reconstruction. Cambodia
has faced many challenging tasks of reconstructing
national economy, reducing poverty, security,
legitimacy, building lasting peace and protecting natural
resources. Land has been diversely conceptualized and
objectified for different purposes. Cambodian
government has adopted a land-leased model called
economic land concessions (ELCs) to convert land into
agri-business and mining industries for poverty
reduction and economic reconstruction.
However, Cambodia has confronted sensitively political
issues and social tensions have been consistently
widespread within rural communities. Issues raised
include preserving the rights of the poor and ethnic
people who have traditionally used the land to meet
their majority of food security and income generations
through customary and traditional farming practices.
The tensions between discourses about land and
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12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress, 8-12 July 2013
University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Campus, Suva, Fiji
development and local Cambodian discourses about the
cultural identity and values of traditional land use often
lead to major social and ethnic conflicts within local
communities.
This paper explored and examine contesting and
competing discourses about land and development in
Cambodia. It examines how discourses emerge in social,
political, economic, environmental, and cultural
practices and interactions. To understand and explore
land related issues, the research uses a blend of critical
and discourse theories of Habermas and Foucault to
present a critique of economic development model. The
issue of dominance, marginalization and oppression are
considered, as is the powerful relationship between
power and knowledge. Discourse analysis is used to
analyse texts and the data collected from focus groups
and in-depth interviews with 72 local participants and
16 key stakeholders including government officials, local
non-government organisations and international experts
about their experiences and responses to land disputes.
The research finds that meanings of land are embedded
in competing, conflicting, marginalising and oppressing
discourses. These discourses lead to social and ethnic
conflicts and primary and detrimental impacts on
livelihoods, the destruction of cultural identity,
economic and environment issues. This research will
contribute to knowledge about development and land
disputes, conflict mitigation and resolution, and
intervention policies in Cambodia.
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12th Pacific Science Inter-Congress, 8-12 July 2013
University of the South Pacific, Laucala Bay Campus, Suva, Fiji
Key Words: (Discourse, conflict, land, and
development).
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