Globalization and the Khmer Genocide: How It Was Realized and How It Is Remembered

Presenter

Sabrina Chhorn

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Deepika Marya, Honors College, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A9, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 1 (A1-A20) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

Even after almost 50 years since its establishment and fall, the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge regime, and the subsequent Khmer genocide that resulted in upwards of 2 million dead, continues to dominate the global perception of Cambodia. People’s fascination with this particularly dark period of Cambodian history, to both Khmer (Cambodian) people and foreigners alike, is kept alive by the flourishing genocide industry and “dark tourism” (tourism focused on sites associated with death and atrocity) memorializing the period through a range of mediums including museums, monument sites, and depictions in media. Much like previous research on the genocide, the forms of memorialization accessible via Cambodia’s genocide industry focuses on the atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge to the Khmer people, such as emphasizing the Khmer Rouge’s “communist” ideology, descriptions of torture and forced labor, and brutal executions such as those committed in the country’s infamous “killing fields.” Contrary to this popular characterization of the genocide as an isolated domestic issue, U.S. imperialism, via carpet bombing and political interference of the neutral Cambodian state during the Vietnam War, destabilized Cambodia’s political and economic systems, providing enough anti-U.S., anti-imperialist propaganda for the Khmer Rouge to leverage to grab and maintain power. The findings of this research indicate that in Cambodia’s genocide industry there is little to no memorialization of the deaths directly associated with U.S. imperialism, nor a substantial emphasis on how U.S. imperialism supported the Khmer Rouge’s growth and power maintenance, rendering the memorialization of the historical period incomplete.  

Keywords

Globalization, Genocide, International

Research Area

Globalization and Development

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