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Cambodia's suffering: Reflections on journeys to a ‘broken society’

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Abstract

This field note describes two trips made by the author to Cambodia, the first in 1980 not long after the Khmer Rouge was driven from Phnom Penh, and the second in late 2009. The author describes encounters and conversations with Cambodian men and women in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge genocide, and her own subjective experience of the traumatic upheavals of the country. In this series of reflections on journeys to Cambodia, the author also discusses the process of truth and reconciliation and the limits of western therapeutic responses to collective violence.

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Notes

  1. All quotations from verbal communication have been approved by Youk Chhang, Chhim Sotheara, and Marie Cammal.

  2. For reports on the ECCC, visit www.cambodiatribunal.org.

  3. The DC-Cam website www.dccam.org has an abundance of information about documentation, healing and reconciliation projects happening in Cambodia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Western Sydney, 101 Duke Street, Campsie, 2194, NSW, Australia

    Annie Stopford

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  1. Annie Stopford
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Stopford, A. Cambodia's suffering: Reflections on journeys to a ‘broken society’. Psychoanal Cult Soc 16, 209–217 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/pcs.2010.23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/pcs.2010.23

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