In the Shadows: Women, Power and Politics in Cambodia Kate Frieson CAPI Associate and United N ations Regional Spokesperson, UNMIBH (UN mission in Bosnia Hercegovina) Occasional Paper No. 26 June 2001 Copyright © 2001 Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives Box 1700, STN CSC Victoria, BC Canada V8W 2Y2 Tel. : (250) 721-7020 Fax : (250) 721-3107 E-mail:
[email protected] National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Frieson, Kate G. (Kate Grace), 1958- In the Shadows: Women, Power and Politics in Cambodia (CAPI occasional paper series ; 26) ISBN 1-55058-230-5 1. Cambodia–Social conditions. 2. Cambodia–Politics and government. 3. Women in politics–Cambodia. I. UVic Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives. II. Title. III. Series: Occasional papers (UVic Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives) ; #26. DS554.8.F74 2001 305.42'09596 C2001-910945-8 Printed in Canada Table of Contents Theoretical Approaches to Gender and Politics ......................................1 Women and the Politics of Socialization ............................................2 Women and the State: Regeneration and the Reproduction of the Nation ..................4 Women and the Defense of the State during War-Time ................................8 Women as Defenders of the Nation ...............................................12 Women in Post-UNTAC Cambodia ..............................................14 Conclusion ..................................................................16 Notes ......................................................................16 In the Shadows: Women, Power and Politics in Cambodia Kate Frieson, University of Victoria "Behind almost all politicians there are women in the shadows" Anonymous writer, Modern Khmer News, 1954 Although largely unscribed in historical writings, women have played important roles in the Cambodian body politic as lance-carrying warriors and defenders of the Angkorean kingdom, influential consorts of kings, deviant divas, revolutionary heroines, spiritual protectors of Buddhist temples, and agents of peace.