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Genocide Education in Cambodia: Local Initiatives, Global

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Genocide Education in Cambodia: Local Initiatives, Global Genocide Education in Cambodia: Local Initiatives, Global Connections By Khamboly Dy A dissertation submitted to the Graduate School—Newark Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Global Affairs Written under the direction of Professor Alexander Hinton and approved by _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ ___________________________________________ Newark, New Jersey May 2015 1 © 2015 Khamboly Dy All Rights Reserved 2 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Genocide Education in Cambodia: Local Initiatives, Global Connections By Khamboly Dy Dissertation Adviser: Professor Alexander L. Hinton The content and pedagogy of genocide education in Cambodia has been effectively connected to the changing patterns of the country’s political regimes. This relationship clearly demonstrates the link between history, politics and pedagogical practices in schools. Not only do history and national politics shape the way the Cambodian genocide is taught, but the teaching is also influenced by the flows of global education philosophies in general and certain segments of global genocide education ideas and strategies in particular. This dissertation primarily asks two core questions: In what ways do history and national political changes determine the ways Cambodia teaches about the genocide? In what way does Cambodian genocide education adopt and adapt global genocide education practices? Responding to these two primary questions, the dissertation examines how history and political changes in Cambodia bring about the changes in the statuses of its genocide education. Further, the dissertation explores the local initiatives and global connections that help in mainstreaming Cambodian genocide education. From this perspective, the dissertation examines how global genocide education practices have manifested, vernacularized, transmitted and circulated into the context of Cambodia. The dissertation argues that the prevailing national political developments have constrained, or at certain junctures dictated, the content of Cambodian genocide i education: the way teachers convey messages in the classrooms; the choices of historical content; the methods used to teach about the genocide; and the way people view, discuss and debate the Khmer Rouge (KR) period. Based on the theory of vernacularization developed by Peggy Levitt and Sally Merry, the dissertation further argues that global genocide education practices find their way into Cambodia and influence and intersect with local genocide education initiatives through a vernacularization process in which global ideas and strategies are translated, appropriated and harmonized with the local context and culture. These intertwined global-local genocide education practices provide overall parameters for the approach to be taken and are applied to a variety of relevant teaching models and materials that enrich the existing local genocide education content. Theoretically, the dissertation research contributes to an understanding of global genocide education in general and Cambodian experiences in particular, as well as to an understanding of how globalization and localization function in this important area of education. In particular, the dissertation contributes to an understanding of how and why certain dominant global genocide education practices have arisen in genocide education efforts around the globe; how and why these dominant global practices have affected genocide education in post-conflict Cambodia; and how and why local Cambodian initiatives have adopted, modified and reconciled those dominant global genocide education practices to adapt to the local educational contexts and the local country conditions. It also shows how the choice to adopt particular features of prevailing dominant global practices has great consequences for the local genocide education programs and their social impacts. ii The dissertation uses multiple research methods including qualitative study (semi- structured interviews), archival research, secondary research, and classroom observations in order to provide both comprehensive and in-depth analyses. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The research, writing and completion of the dissertation required a long and complicated process and much hard work. The completion of the dissertation would not have been possible without assistance, encouragement, inspiration and suggestions from several people. I am deeply indebted to DC-Cam's Director, Youk Chhang, who has constantly and tirelessly encouraged me and offered me the opportunity for both personal and professional growth. He not only founded DC-Cam, but also pioneered and oversaw the Cambodian genocide education project, which became a cornerstone and a central theme of this dissertation. I am most grateful to my dissertation chairperson, Professor Alexander Hinton, who has patiently reviewed several drafts of my dissertation and helped to improve it. Since I began my Master’s study program at Rutgers Newark in Fall 2007 and began my PhD study in 2009, Professor Hinton has unstintingly given me academic advice and personal and professional encouragement. My enrollment in two of his courses (Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights and Global Justice) strengthened and inspired me as I worked on this dissertation research topic. Likewise, I would like to thank Professor Tomas La Pointe and Professor Nela Navarro of the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights. They have helped me in many ways since I began my study at Rutgers Newark in 2007. The critical and insightful advice of three other dissertation advisers has improved the rigor of the arguments in this dissertation. I am indebted to Professor John D. Ciorciari, Assistant Professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, University of iv Michigan; Professor Frank Chalk, Professor of History and Director, the Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies at Concordia University, Canada; and Professor Jean-Marc Coicaud, Professor of Global Affairs and Director of the Division of Global Affairs at Rutgers. Professor Ciorciari has been with me since the development of the dissertation proposal. He has helped me shape and streamline the direction of the dissertation. Professor Chalk, one of the fathers of genocide education, has enlightened me about global genocide education practices and the highly contested meaning of "genocide." Professor Coicaud has given me insight into the relationship between localization and globalization which is one of the theoretical approaches of the dissertation. My dissertation would not be as accurate as it is without critical peer review from Chris Dearing, Christine Su and Jillian Nowak. I would also like to thank all my friends at DC-Cam, who have helped me in many ways during the dissertation writing process. I would like to especially thank Peou Dara Vanthan, Kokthay Eng, Farina So, Sok-Kheang Ly, Sovann Mam, Sophat Mam, Socheat Nhean, Samphors Huy, Lim Ky, Terith Chy, Long Aun and Bunthorn Som as well as many other friends whose names I could not all list here. I am also deeply indebted to the many national, provincial and commune teachers who shared their educational experiences and insights through several stages of interviews. Twenty national teachers from the Ministry of Education travelled with me around the country to conduct classroom observations, surveys with teachers and students, and the interviews which substantially inform my dissertation research. v I would like to express gratitude to Ms. Ann Martin, DGA Associate Director, for her technical help and advice on the planning of my studies and my dissertation research. Thanks also go to Ms. Desiree Gordon, DGA administrative assistant, for her untiring administrative support. I am indebted to the Graduate School of Rutgers (Newark), especially Dean Claire Bautista, who has provided me with financial support since I embarked on my Master’s degree studies at Rutgers in fall 2007. I would also like to thank Ms. Jeannie Wang, Director of the Office of International Student and Scholar Services (OISS), for facilitating the documents necessary for my travels in and out of the United States. Finally, I would like express my wholehearted gratitude to my family, especially my wife Sokun Say, who helped me catalogue my research documents. She has been with me all along the way to this success. vi CONTENTS Abstract of the Dissertation .............................................................................................. i Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. xii Chapter One: Introduction: Rationales and Theoretical Frameworks ........................1 Rationales of the Study .....................................................................................................1 Thesis Statement and Questions .......................................................................................7 Theoretical frameworks ....................................................................................................9 Theory of Globalization ................................................................................................9 Theory of Vernacularization .......................................................................................10
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