Social engagement in villages
in Cambodia
The idea of community, if taken to refer not to
co-location but also to a spirit of common
purpose, shared identity and trust, has declined
in Cambodia as a result of its recent bitter
history of autocracy, violence, genocide, and
poverty. Interviews with participants aged 60
and older, born in both villages, illustrated the
extent to which villages were believed to have
changed since the 1940s. Prior to political
turbulence and civil war in Cambodia in 1970,
development activities in the villages, primarily
road maintenance and building wells, was
conducted under the leadership of Buddhist
abbots and monks, senior citizens and local
leaders. Under Pol Pot’s regime, in contrast,
the population was forced to provide labour
for developmental purposes in the villages