Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675
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Geoforum
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‘Fire in the House’: Gendered experiences of drunkenness and violence in Siem Reap, Cambodia
Katherine Brickell
Department of Geography and Environment, London School of Economics, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom article info abstract
Article history: After decades of turmoil and international isolation, Cambodia has embarked on a threefold transition: Received 22 December 2006 from armed conflict to peace, from political authoritarianism to liberal democracy, and from a socialist Received in revised form 8 April 2008 economic system to one based on market-driven capitalist growth. In this context of transition, the paper explores the perceived linkages that exist between drinking, drunkenness and gender-based violence in rural and urban Siem Reap, home to the global tourism site of Angkor. By considering the ways in which Keywords: men and women relate alcohol use with violence, the paper questions what implications these social con- Alcohol structions have for tackling gender-based violence and concludes that challenging such external explana- Cambodia tions for violence is needed in order for gender-based violence to be understood as the struggle for Drinking Gender equality in men and women’s everyday lives. Post-conflict Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Violence
1. Introduction enness and violence in post-conflict and transition contexts before considering the conceptualisations of men, masculinities and vio- After decades of turmoil and international isolation, Cambodia lence, which underpin the framework of this paper. has embarked on a threefold transition: from armed conflict to peace, from political authoritarianism to liberal democracy, and 2. From conflict to violent peace? from a socialist economic system to one based on market-driven capitalist growth. Drawing upon the Cambodian Buddhist expres- Holding particular salience in contemporary Cambodia is the sion, ‘Fire in the House’, this paper examines how alcohol-related gen- notion that the absence of war does not mean peace (Galtung, der-based violence is manifest in the everyday lived experiences of 1969). Domestic violence is persistently identified as having in- men and women and explores the perceived linkages that exist be- creased in scope1 and intensity2 in the aftermath of Pol Pot’s reign tween drinking, drunkenness and violence at this time of transition. (Mackay, 1995; Kumar et al., 2000; Pickup et al., 2001; Surtees, While the proverb traditionally relates only to women’s respon- 2003) and is now considered to represent the major challenge for sibility to contain three fires of anger – related to parents, husbands Cambodia to reach its targets of promoting gender equality in the and ‘others’ – within the spatial confines of the house, the paper that Millennium Development Goals (Ministry of Planning, 2005).3 follows considers intra-community violence between men along- side its primary focus on inter-spousal violence against women. By 1 In terms of scope, a nationally representative survey found that 22% of ever- focusing on gender-based violence and its intersection with post- married women reported physical, sexual, or emotional violence with 13% of conflict dynamics and alcohol use, I contribute to a fuller under- surveyed women reporting physical violence (National Institute of Public Health standing of what are regarded as common ‘myths’ that are used to et al., 2006, 290). 2 explain or justify such violence (Pickup et al., 2001, 18) and demon- Compounding the widespread nature of violence is its severity with 10% of women reporting having been slapped or having their arm twisted and 8% reporting strate the ascendance of alcohol use as a perceived external factor. having been pushed, shaken or had things thrown at them by their husband in the 12 Given that it is critical to understand the cultural, political and months preceding the survey (National Institute of Public Health et al., 2006, 291). economic environment within which this drinking and possible 3 According to the Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defence of Human violence occurs, in the discussion that follows I briefly outline Rights (2006), the government response to domestic violence in Cambodia has been Cambodia’s recent history from 1975 to the present day and ex- slow and inadequate. While Cambodia ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1992 it was not until plain the main objectives informing the paper. I then examine September 2005 that the Law on the Prevention of Domestic Violence and the some of the interconnections that exist between drinking, drunk- Protection of Victims was passed – and in 2000, committed to enforcing the Cambodian Millennium Development Goals (CMDG). Both instruments contain provisions to reduce and eliminate violence against women, but there has been E-mail address: [email protected] insufficient government action to implement or enforce them.
0016-7185/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2008.04.002 1668 K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675
Furthermore, violence against women is viewed as one of the most The national and regional significance of alcohol consumption serious human rights problems in the country (Cambodian League has potentially broader academic and policy relevance to other for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights (2006)). In Cambo- countries of the developing world, which have been identified as dia, nationally representative data shows that women’s experience ‘long-neglected areas where alcohol problems are likely to increase of violence also varies with the extent of alcohol consumption by at an alarming rate in the future’ (WHO, 2004, iii), and where the the husband. Women whose husbands regularly get drunk are over seriousness of drinking problems has been systematically underes- six times more likely to have experienced physical or sexual violence timated (Room, 1984, 170). In contrast to other disciplines such as than women whose husbands do not drink or do not get drunk (Na- anthropology however, geographical scholarship has paid rela- tional Institute of Public Health et al., 2006, 295). Given such evi- tively little consideration to the ‘ethnocentrism of alcohol studies’ dence, this paper examines more closely the circumstances that against non-European countries (Valverde, 1998, 18). Rather this women – and men – use to ‘explain’ drinking and violence. has not been a sustained area of inquiry by geographers relative To date, studies on Cambodia’s history of violence have tended to the examination of drinking and the development of modern to prioritise the systematic state violence and politically-motivated industrial urban life in the Global North (Bromley and Nelson, killings directed towards urbanites, high-ranking government offi- 2002; Chatterton and Hollands, 2003; Hubbard, 2005; Jayne cials, businessmen, military officers and/or those that refused to et al., 2006, 2008). By exploring alcohol use and gender-based vio- transform to Democratic Kampuchean life during 1975–1979 lence in the context of post-conflict transition therefore, this paper (Chandler, 1991; Vickery, 1984; Zwi and Ugalde, 1991). Some re- demonstrates the potential for geographers to produce a body of search has looked more specifically at the gendered dimensions exciting work into drinking practices and related development is- of the period, albeit from a female perspective alone; including wo- sues in the Global South. men’s experiences as victims of forced marriages organised by Pol 4 Pot cadres (Heuveline and Poch, 2006; Surtees, 2003) ; in exposure 3. Alcohol and violence: a drunken mix? to rape by Khmer Rouge, Vietnamese and Thai soldiers in camps (By- rne, 1995; Kumar et al., 2000) and as perpetrators of the genocide it- Although there is long standing debate in feminist theory about self (Fein, 1999). Meanwhile, the absence of alcohol from accounts of the causality of men’s violence, in which the conditions and char- the Khmer Rouge period is partly because the regime viewed drink- acteristics associated with gender inequality are widely empha- ing as an aspect of delinquency and that it was nearly impossible for sised (Berns, 2001; Cleaver, 2002; Gelles and Loseke, 1993; the ordinary Cambodian to access alcohol and other drugs at this Pickup et al., 2001; Surtees, 2003)6, ‘violence against women is time (Lala and Straussner, 2001). not caused in any simple way by unequal power relations between Whilst decades of international isolation and civil war have women and men’ (Pickup et al., 2001, 111). Equally, as Gelles come to an official end however, scholarship and international con- (1993, 169) argues, ‘if alcohol is linked to violence – then it is sciousness of what Cambodia represents as a nation remains dom- through a complicated set of individual, situational and social fac- inated by the attempt to come to terms with the Democratic tors’. Whilst this paper does not seek to answer whether there is a Kampuchea period (Marston, 2005). Moving beyond Cockburn’s ‘real’ causal relationship between alcohol use and violence, it does (2001, 16) four analytical ‘moments’ of conflict (pre-conflict, con- explore the ‘vocabularies of motives’ (Hearn, 1998, 133) which dif- flict, peacemaking and reconstruction), the paper considers the sig- ferent participants use to establish a relationship between the two.7 nificance of drinking, drunkenness and violence in the context of The complexity and controversy surrounding the association of the new economic challenges and rising social expectations associ- alcohol with violence can be viewed in a number of regards. At the ated with Cambodia’s ‘post-post conflict’ development (World most basic level, it is clear that alcohol consumption in isolation is Bank, 2006, 1). I therefore contribute to a growing body of scholar- neither a necessary nor a sufficient cause of to explain violent ship founded on addressing the socio-cultural changes which have behaviour (Gough and Edwards, 1998; Gutmann, 1996). The notion accompanied Cambodia’s rapid shift from international isolation to that gender-based violence is caused by factors such as alcohol global interconnectedness (Brickell, 2007, 2008; Derks, 2005; Got- (and poverty), rather than the underlying inequality of power tesman, 2003; Marston, 2005; Ollier and Winter, 2006). relations between men and women, is also cast as particularly Focusing on these changes in relation to alcohol use and gen- problematic in the sense that this construction ensures male dom- der-based violence, I aim to redress the paucity of research on inance over women (PADV, 2003). Furthermore, the need to place men’s roles and identities in Cambodia (see Brickell, 2007, 2008; violence in the context of wider power relations is critical given PADV, 2003 as notable exceptions), as well as responding to the that ‘while it is both men and women who get drunk, it is particu- broader call for research on men and masculinities to move further larly wives, subordinated by gender and affinity, who are vulnera- beyond its primary focus on the ‘first world’ (Jones, 2006; Morrell ble to male violence’ (Harvey, 1994, 227).8 and Swart, 2005; Osella et al., 2004). In a Cambodian context, the On the other hand, others argue that academics are ‘frightened’ importance of studying drinking and drunkenness is also com- by causation and that alcohol-related behaviour is perhaps just as pounded by the fact that alcohol appears a largely overlooked culpable to criticism than any other causal factor of aggression development issue in the country. This is despite the widespread (Flanzer, 1993; Valverde, 1998, 14). This point is echoed in re- problems of substance abuse particularly related to alcohol con- search in Southern India, which identifies alcohol as the main per- sumption ‘in every town, including isolated villages’ (Lala and ceived agent in provocations of violence, where it is not men’s Straussner, 2001, 323). Such inattention is likely to become more problematic as the South-East Asian Region (SEAR) is one of two 6 regions in the world showing recent and continuing increases in This includes debates around the re-emergence of biologically based explanations for gendered social behaviour, in particular of evolutionary perspectives which allow alcohol consumption (WHO, 2004).5 male aggression to be categorised, at least in part, as a ‘natural’ phenomenon (Jacobson, 2000). 7 The term ‘alcohol-related violence’ therefore, is used to refer to incidences in which violence is reported to have involved one or more participants who had been 4 During the Khmer Rouge, marriage and sexual liaisons were strictly controlled in drinking. The term is not used to imply a direct causal relationship between alcohol order to dissolve and deter the formation of social bonds (Fein, 1999). and violence. 5 In terms of total recorded alcohol per capita consumption (15 + years old), in 8 In my Cambodian research, it appeared however to be mainly men who drank litres of pure alcohol, Cambodia has a value of 0.36 in comparison with Thailand excessively. Population studies have shown that in almost every culture in the world, (8.47) and Myanmar (0.36) (WHO, 2004, 11–12). men drink more than women (Heath, 2000). K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675 1669 natures that are seen to require change, but men’s access to alcohol 5. Men, masculinities and conceptualisations of violence (Busby, 2000, 211). As Krug et al. (2002) argues, the link between alcohol and violence is culturally dependent, only existing in As I have already intimated, this paper looks predominantly at settings where the collective expectation is that drink causes or ex- alcohol-related inter-spousal violence against women, but also cuses certain behaviours. community-level violence between men. In regard to the former, I follow international definitions of violence against women, which 4. Drinking through transition focus not just on physical harm, but encompass broader physical, emotional and psychological harm, including the threat of such Given that the experience of violent conflict is not built upon a harm (Pickup et al., 2001, 12). This approach is broadly consistent single discourse (Moser and Clark, 2001) and in the study of alco- with the definition of violence in Cambodian (Hoengsa) as ‘aggres- hol, academics are not examining static systems, but rather the dy- sion, harassment, bad treatment or abuse’ (Cambodian Dictionary, namic interplay of many forces (Chafetz and Demone, 1962), it is 1967; 157 cited in PADV, 2003). I also use the term, ‘gender-based important to consider the impact of Cambodia’s transition on the violence’ in a conventional sense, as ‘violence which embodies the nature of men’s drinking and interpersonal violence. power imbalances inherent in patriarchal society’ (El-Bushra and One of these dynamics is war during which ‘cultures of conflict’ Piza-Lopez, 1993, 1). In considering violence against men however, are infused into the symbols, attitudes, values, and beliefs that con- I also engage with ‘gender-based violence’ as a product of the stitute society (Campbell, 1992). Studies have shown the connec- imbalances of power relations between men. tions that exist between state-level dynamics and post-war Rather than looking upon the notion of ‘men’ as a single, micro-level behaviour. These connections include the quality of oppositional category then (Cornwall and Lindisfarne, 1993, 1), marital relations declining (El-Bushra, 2000), problems of readjust- the paper is also organised around the idea that ‘hegemonic’ mas- ment and reintegration of men and women (Cockburn and Zarkov, culinities define successful ways of ‘being a man’ whilst rendering 2002; Dolan, 2002) and increased alcohol consumption as a means other masculine styles (and women) as ‘subordinate’ or inferior on of coping with residual traumas (Brickell, 2007; Lala and Strauss- the bases of differences within and between men according to ner, 2001; Moser and McIlwaine, 2000). class, ethnicity, and sexual orientation etc. (Connell, 1995). An interrelated factor in the post-conflict period is that in Although these categorisations of masculinity have been criticised Cambodia, the household division of labour is changing, with an for failing to reflect the complex, contradictory, fragmented, shift- increased tendency for women to engage in a broader range of ing and ambivalent lived experiences of men (McDowell, 2002; tasks, including those traditionally associated with men (Brickell, Mac an Ghaill, 1996), according to Jones (2004), in the study of 2007; UNIFEM et al., 2004, 23).9 In connection, Heuveline and Poch violence against men (in Rwanda), they nevertheless help us to (2006, 99) argue that divorce and separation trends over time and understand how men are lured or coerced into becoming agents across age cohorts show that a recent increase in marital disruption of violence. is the result of higher levels of female education and employment. To explore men’s experiences in an empirically nuanced way, I Studies from the developing world have tended to emphasise the also consider some men’s professed non-drinking, soberness and significance of this increase in women’s involvement in wage la- non-violence. While studies are predominantly based on the ortho- bour (or emancipation) in creating tensions, which manifest them- dox alignment between alcohol and male identity (Brandes, 2002; selves in alcohol-related violence and even marital rape by men Gough and Edwards, 1998; Gutmann, 1996; Lemle and Mishkind, (Finnish Foundation for Alcohol Studies, 2002; Greig, 2001; Sil- 1989, 213), it is interesting to consider men who choose to reject berschmidt, 1990, 2005; Townsend, 1995). Violence against women alcohol consumption as a definitive part of their lives, as Brandes is thus cited as one element of the ‘myth’ that women’s empower- (2002) has explored in the context of men’s attempts at ‘staying so- ment can be achieved solely through participation in the paid ber’ through Alcoholics Anonymous group participation in Mexico workforce (Pearson, 2004; Pickup et al., 2001; Safa, 1995 among City. others).10 Alcohol consumption is seen in East Africa, for example, as a 6. Methodology form of escape for men when they go to bars and meet those in the same frustrated employment situation and ‘get some social The excerpts and broader observations in this paper are drawn contact’ (Silberschmidt, 1990, 148). Suggs’ (2001) work on alcohol from 100 oral history interviews conducted as part of a larger pro- in Botswana also links social change with the politics of masculin- ject on the changing contours of gender relations in post-conflict ity by focusing on seniors who traditionally controlled young Cambodia. The sample was based on an equal proportion of men men’s access to alcohol, but whose power was reduced after the and women of differing ages living in two communes in Cambodia, introduction of market exchange and competitive distribution of one located in the centre of Siem Reap town (Slorkram), and the beer. These various examples point to what the Finnish Foundation other located in its rural vicinity where rice farming still predom- for Alcohol Studies (2002, 13) sees as the product alcohol and its inates (Krobei Riel). Siem Reap is home to the Angkor archaeolog- social role ‘being swept along in the tides of global change’ having ical site, and is the most well-known tourist attraction, having been present in the cultures of many developing societies for thou- experienced rapid development in terms of tourist arrivals, city 11 sands of years. landscape, tourism facilities and services in recent years. Puok district (where Krobei Riel is located) has also received some benefits from the boom in tourism in the provincial town, but production constraints (poor soils, no money for inputs such as fertiliser, lack 9 Cambodia already has one of the highest female labour force participation rates in of water and infrastructure) have all prevented most local farmers the region forming 75% of the primary labour force in wholesale and retail trade and from responding to increased demand for food crops from hotels 66% of the manufacturing labour force (ILO, 2001). This figure is continuing to and restaurants (Economic Institute of Cambodia cited in World increase with industrialisation, as women play an even more important and visible role as income providers for families and as driving forces for economic development (UNIFEM et al., 2004, 22). 10 Suggs (1996) has shown in Botswana however, that some women do have agency, 11 The town received 856,150 foreign visitors in 2006, or about 50% of total foreign given independence gained through the cash economy, to be able to literally wait to visitors arriving in Cambodia, a rapid increase from 264,000 visitors in 2001 (MoT, find a man who rejects drinking as a definitive attribute of their gender. 2006). 1670 K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675
Bank, 2006: vi). While many women in Slorkram play an active part abuse, took place in participants’ homes when their husbands were in the service-oriented work associated with tourism, women in Kro- at work and with widowed women who were not held back from bei Riel continue to work mainly as farmers and basket-weavers (al- expressing their strong opinions by virtue of their husbands’ death. beit with a greater market for their handicrafts). Interviews concerning community-level violence were generally dis- After a one-month pilot study in March 2004, a period of sub- cussed openly within households but included a degree of secrecy stantive fieldwork between June and November 2004 was used between households in the event that such ‘gossip’ would enflame to conduct the oral history interviews. My sample of participants old disputes.16 was derived through visits on different days and times to randomly The sensitivity I tried to adopt also filtered through to my choice selected individual households in the two communes and through of research assistants. I worked mainly with a 25 year-old male contacts with schools, local businesses and construction sites.12 graduate, who had prior research training on gender and develop- The oral histories were completed in two sessions (lasting between ment issues in Cambodia. I also managed to find a female research two and four hours each), and were used to understand change over assistant, which gave women the option to be interviewed by her the life course given the shifting expectations, responsibilities and instead. In the majority of cases however, women appeared happy attitudes tied to men and women’s roles in and outside of the house- to discuss their lives with the male research assistant, and equally, hold. A profile was also used to gather background socio-economic as a young, British woman interviewing Cambodian men, I felt a information about oral history participants and their respective personal sense of safety, even legitimacy, being accompanied by households. To obtain broader understanding, additional consulta- a male assistant. I believe my ‘otherness’, was at the same time a tions with representatives from the Ministry of Women’s Affairs source of intrigue and even status for participants. I also think that (MOWA), Project Against Domestic Violence (PADV)13 and Cambo- women may have felt greater liberty to express their opinions gi- dian Men’s Network (CMN) were also held in Phnom Penh.14 ven the frequency with which I was described as a ‘modern lady’ Oral histories were chosen for their emphasis on free-ranging, not confined to traditional custom or rhetoric. open-ended interviews around a series of issues, drawing chrono- logically on direct personal memory of the past and experience of 7. Main findings the present. Their capability and effectiveness in researching sensi- tive issues surrounding conflict and interpersonal violence (El- The empirical findings that follow are divided into three inter- Bushra et al., 2002, 8), domestic life (Blunt and Dowling, 2006, related sections. The first documents the observed legacies of 35) and male subjectivities (Beynon, 2002, 152) were also contrib- Khmer Rouge times as well as the contemporary political situation utory factors in my decision. This paper draws on approximately for the nature of drinking and violence. The second takes a closer one third of these interviews from the overall sample which men- look at the links made between drinking, drunkenness and vio- tioned experiences or opinions on violence and/or on alcohol con- lence associated with daily family and work-related difficulties. Fi- sumption at the interpersonal or intra-community level. The nally, the third section responds to Jones’ (2006, xviii) call for a recorded, translated and transcribed excerpts in this paper from more balanced and empathetic portrait of Southern men and con- 10 respondents’ interviews have been selected to reflect the range siders the reasons behind some men’s rejection of drinking. of participant backgrounds as well as the consistency and diver- gence of factors to which participants’ attribute the problem of 7.1. The politics of alcohol-related violence drinking, drunkenness and inter-spousal/intra-community vio- lence. These detailed accounts have been provided to document As I have explained, Cambodia is portrayed as having ventured the potentially traumatic life events of each participant in a sensi- on two political journeys, from armed conflict to peace and from tive manner, given that researchers have a particular ethical obli- authoritarianism to liberal democracy (Peou, 2001; World Bank, gation to help ensure that their findings are properly interpreted 2006). Implications stemming from the incomplete nature of these in violence situations (WHO, 1999). transitions were marked in participants’ accounts, and especially in This approach relates to the possible taboos surrounding vio- relation to alcohol-related violence, which is believed to have been lence against women that meant I had to be responsive to the dif- exacerbated by the Khmer Rouge regime, its legacies, and the cur- 15 ficulties and dangers for the respondent. I explained to the rent state of Cambodian politics. respondents that if at any point they felt distressed and wanted to In terms of the Pol Pot period, while it is arguably time to view it change subject (or stop the interview), then this was fine. Although from a greater distance – perhaps distinguishing it more dispas- in a number of cases women started to cry, generally this subsided sionately as part of larger historical and political processes and they chose to continue. When domestic violence did come to (Marston, 2005, 501) – the reign of the Khmer Rouge remains of light, I tried to follow WHO (1999) published guidelines for address- continuing importance for understanding older female partici- ing ethical and safety issues in domestic violence research, including pants’ post-conflict experiences of marriage. Nakry, a fifty year- the referral of women requesting assistance to available sources of old widow who is supported by her five soup-selling daughters is support in the local area. The oral history interviews were conducted a typical example. Having been the target of verbal and physical in respondents’ homes or workplaces at the request of participants. violence for many years, Nakry questions how she could have While it was in some incidences difficult to obtain privacy, I found coped living with her alcoholic husband any longer. With convic- that many of the interviews in which women discussed domestic tion, Nakry explained that, ‘When my husband was alive I had no freedom. I could not 12 In recognition of the fact that respondents were forfeiting time to participate in go anywhere. When I was young I worked as a guide... I my study, a modest ‘gift’ of soap was offered. worked at the Angkor temple and studied history. My hus- 13 PADV is a local non-governmental organisation that works to prevent, reduce and band made me lose that knowledge... and I became a dull eliminate domestic violence and helps its victims. person. He always scolded me. He was violent so often and 14 CMN is a network of men from the NGO Gender and Development for Cambodia (GAD/C). The CMN was formed by concerned men who firmly believe that men must broke everything in the house. I did not love him. Pol Pot address and commit themselves to gender equity and eliminating violence against women because violence is a societal problem and not a women’s problem. 15 Very occasionally, I interviewed men who on starting the interview, smelt of 16 Informed consent of each respondent was obtained for the research in the first alcohol, and made sure I noted this down in my fieldnotes. To my knowledge, none of interview. In addition, each respondent was informed of the purpose and nature of the participants in this paper were drunk at time of interview. the questions and their names changed to ensure anonymity. K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675 1671
arranged our wedding. My marriage was destroyed by my forced, not through their heart to adapt- they were scared, husband’s rudeness. He did not know about honour. He did forced- and this mentality sticks. To be controlled has been not think about earning. He drank alcohol but he was worse normalised. Today’s violence arises from people’s experi- than a drunkard [tear in her eye]. For other women, when ences during Pol Pot and the Vietnamese. You had to do their husbands die, they feel like they are in the middle of whatever to survive. Even me, I resorted to under the table the sea. For me, I am happy. After he died I could do what ways of living to stay alive. If you still bring the bad experi- I wanted... Although I have only salt water with rice I am ences into your life- this problem will still happen. They happy. For other women, a husband is a golden mountain. bring it from their suffering. Make an example of my Prime For me, my husband was not- he drank us into poverty- Minister who grew up in warring times- morality- dignity- and if I had lived with him much longer I would have died like him, we lost all of those.’ (Meaker, male, Slorkram, 48 young.’ (Nakry, female, Slorkram, 50 years old, widowed, years old, married, Doctor.) cake maker at home.) Meaker’s narrative demonstrates two main points. First, it illumi- Nakry’s interview shows the significance of Khmer Rouge practices nates the ways in which controlling and often destructive behaviour and their legacies for understanding women’s experiences of vio- is believed to have become a systematic feature of peoples’ post- lence. Matched by Pol Pot cadres, Nakry starkly declares that she conflict relationships with one another. Keating (2004, 54) argues, never loved her husband. Nakry’s lack of sentiment towards her de- for example, that in the context of long periods of chronic conflict, ceased husband reflects Khmer Rouge attempts to dissolve the idea it can be difficult for people to distinguish abusive behaviour result- of romantic love and compatibility so that personal happiness ing from the accepted and feared hierarchical systems to which would not be indulged at the expense of the work needed to recon- they have learned obedience. Meaker connects the use of force in struct the nation. contemporary society to peoples’ experiences at the hands of the As a by-product of Khmer Rouge marriage practices and the tur- Khmer Rouge who imprisoned or eliminated those who could not moil that the conflict inflicted on peoples’ lives, some women who transform, chose not to, or who were considered a threat to the experience domestic abuse express a sense of relief on the death of revolution. their spouse. This has been noted elsewhere, including in East Afri- Second, Meaker believes that an ‘unresolved’ legacy of violence ca, where recurrent observations from women were that ‘a women ‘sticks’ as the result of a lack of positive role models for men to is better off without a husband’, ‘if he were only dead’ (Silbersch- emulate in Cambodia’s current political environment. Meaker midt, 2005, 192). With a greater feeling of well-being, Nakry says makes particular reference to Prime Minister Hun Sen whose sup- that her husband’s death has enabled her to live without fear of posed lack of dignity represents and perpetuates current behaviour violence, fulfil latent ambitions and to spend more time devoted of society as a whole. The politician, who rose quickly through the to Buddhist practice in preparation for the next incarnation. In fact, ranks of the post-Khmer Rouge government, has been Cambodia’s Nakry believes she would have ‘died young’ if her husband had not prime minister since the mid-1980s and is seen by many partici- passed away and in many ways, considers his death, as an accept- pants as increasingly authoritarian, corrupt, and in 2003, of fanning able ‘trade off’. This idea of ‘trade offs’ is particularly relevant to anti-Thai sentiments which led to rioting in the capital, Phnom many women’s lives as they make tactical choices between differ- Penh.18 In turn, Meaker believes the persistence of ‘warring’ behav- ent dimensions of poverty and well being (Chant, 2007; Kabeer, iours has continued not only as a product of Khmer Rouge times, but 1997). Although being without a male partner is often associated is also perpetuated by the contemporary political situation defined with heightened levels of deprivation (only having ‘salt water with by coercion and corruption. rice’ rather than having an ideal husband who is a ‘golden moun- According to participants, this climate of compulsion and lack of tain’ providing for his family), this can simultaneously be met by real political change is reflected in the widespread and habitual spin off benefits as inter-spousal violence rarely occurs in isolation consumption of alcohol by local officials, policeman and political from other controlling behaviours (National Institute of Public party members. In July 2003, an alcohol-fuelled murder occurred Health et al., 2006, 289). As Nakry alludes, these advantages can in- in Krobei Riel commune as the Village Chief explained, clude pursuing a more vivacious and prosperous life free from vio- ‘The members of the Sam Rainsy group19 asked him to drink lence and a spouse literally drinking the household budget. with them during the night. When they drank, they ate dog Lastly, the widow’s past unhappiness was intensified by her late meat and accused him of being a magic man and killed husband’s abusive behaviour in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge him. They buried him away from the village so we couldn’t regime. Many women believe that there has been a negative find the body even after 18 days... all the villagers accused change in their husbands, much like in Zimmerman’s (1994, 17) those involved in the murder. There is still anger. During study of domestic violence in Cambodia, where women described the party campaign, Sam Rainsy gives 50,000 Riel [around men as ‘broken’ and ‘damaged’. On a personal level, Nakry accred- US $12.5] per member and gives the party members drink- its her husband’s alcohol addition and resultant violence to the and dog meat. His wife asked him to come home again and lasting psychological impacts of the conflict.17 As Pickup et al. again but he refused. At 9pm she could see dancing and (2001, 145) relate, while the official end of armed conflict signals a the smashing of bottles of rice wine because there was no change from war to peace at a political level, the impact of conflict music. At 1am my sister saw that all was quiet but she on society alters it profoundly, and no political settlement can solve couldn’t see her husband singing or dancing. She just thought the social problems that this causes. he must have fallen asleep having drunk too much.’ (Sothea, Nakry’s pointing up of the dominant role of the state in gener- male, 52 years old, Krobei Riel, married, village chief.) ating anti-social expressions of masculinities, is also referred to by a number of middle-age male participants. As Meaker told me, 18 As McCargo (2005, 104) comments, ‘the more people in Cambodia and abroad ‘People went through hard times, in different environments focus on the murders and other acts of brutality that the Khmer Rouge committed a and situations. I see something unresolved... people were quarter-century ago, the notion runs, the less these citizens and observers will focus on the increasingly authoritarian nature of the Hun Sen regime itself’. Furthermore, it is argued that Hun Sen and his cohorts continue to ‘get away with’ authoritarianism 17 In Mexico, studies have also shown men’s drinking to be one of the most common because strongman rule is a lesser evil than mass murder (ibid. 107). forms of ‘misery’ (Townsend, 1995, 109) and ‘sickness’ (Finkler, 1994, 63)in 19 The Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) is a more or less liberal party in Cambodia. It is an marriages. opposition party to the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP). 1672 K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675
As the murder of the 28 year old man in Krobei Riel demonstrates, goes to work, it is fine.’ (Socheatha, female, 25 years old, Kro- drinking-related violence can be a powerful expression of the gen- bei Riel, married, basket weaver.) der politics within masculinity for younger as well as older men. As Socheatha’s interview demonstrates, drinking is framed as a Alcohol and drinking can thus simultaneously solidify group identi- longstanding problem manifest in everyday life. While Socheatha ties while at the same time isolating ‘others’ who men are suspi- makes reference to her lack of fear living with her husband, a num- cious of. Just like the household therefore, communities are not ber of Western academics have suggested that the characterisation homogenous, but contain individuals and interest groups that have of ‘home as haven’ is a representation of an idealised and nostalgic the potential to clash with each other as well as to cooperate (Pick- notion of home (Jones, 2000; Wardhaugh, 1999). In a Cambodian up et al., 2001, 119). context however, home is generally thought of as a space of poten- The murdered man’s refusal to return home (despite his wife’s tial conflict instilled within traditional proverbs such as ‘Fire in the request), reflects the fact that men must have very strong, concrete House’ and ‘Plates in a Basket Will Rattle’.20 The latter refers to the reasons not to attend and will rarely refuse or leave early. In Cam- way that family members like plates, often collide with each other bodian culture, for example, men often coerce each other in peer in the home. This conception of the household, relates to one of pressure situations by threatening to end the friendship if the the most serious and perhaps alarming aspects of domestic violence other does not conform, and likewise in turning down an invitation in Cambodia – the culture of impunity and tacit acceptance sur- (PADV, 2003). This evidence again complicates the idea that alco- rounding it (UNIFEM et al., 2004, 13).21 It is important to note that hol is necessarily a strong and supportive cultural framework the word ‘normal’ (tomodah) in some participants’ interviews (such (Douglas, 1987) for all men at all times. as Meaker’s) does not necessarily imply tolerance and acceptance. Rather, in the majority of cases, it reflects a realisation that what is 7.2. ‘Plates in a basket will rattle’: everyday encounters with drinking ‘normal’ behaviour often lies in contradiction to the Cbpah Proh and drunkenness (Rules for Men) which advises to avoid the ‘three madnesses’ of men’ – gambling, women and drinking. The seriousness of issues associated with drinking, drunkenness Of further interest is Socheatha’s reference to her husband’s no- and violence within marital and community-level relations, is not tion that he is ‘strong’ at work if he has consumed alcohol, but just the perceived outcome of historical and current elements of weak if not. Socheatha’s husband is a construction labourer and Cambodian politics, but also of daily family and work-related diffi- by relating physical strength with the consumption of rice wine, culties. The widespread belief that these external factors are to reflects the idea that ‘drinkers are viewed as manly not only be- ‘blame’ for men’s drinking and violent behaviour can be introduced cause they drink, but also because their drinking is linked with through the equation of drunkenness and conflict, sobriety and other behaviours which are also connected with the image of being peace which Vichet uses to explain the verbal abuse he directs to- masculine’ (Lemle and Mishkind, 1989, 213). More frequently wards his wife, however, young men relate habitual drinking to daily employment ‘We never have arguments except when we are drunk. I don’t difficulties, as Kamol and Darany confirm, know why I liked to drink. I just drank and was addicted so ‘It is popular to drink for all generations. My father does, and when I saw someone drinking rice wine I wanted to drink so do I- to forget about all the bad things in my life. Near the too. When I was drunk I would cause arguments in the house airport the men drink and then beat their wives. I wonder and no one would speak to me, but after I was sober I realised why so many drink? We drink either because we are happy I had made a mistake to drink. If I don’t drink then everything or because there are problems with finding work and alcohol is OK in the house.’ (Vichet, male, 35 years old, Krobei Riel, is one way of dealing with it.’(Kamol, male, Slorkram, 24 married, farmer). years old, single, tour guide.) While Vichet initially uses the term ‘we’ to refer to men generally, ‘It is normal for men to drink and there are those for whom it Vichet recognises his own personal role in the creation of household happens everyday. They get drunk when they drink so much. disputes. Vichet admits that it is generally a mistake to drink – attrib- They drink because they are unhappy and have stressful uting his frequent consumption to a discourse of addiction – but fails work earning money for the family. We do not deliberately to apologise for the verbal aggression he directs towards his wife drink because we know it will destroy our health but I will when drunk. Vichet states that if he does not drink, ‘then everything give you a crazy phrase that ‘we drink to be drunk, and if is OK in the house’, arguing that alcohol is the root cause of his violent we are not drunk, we do not drink!’ (Darany, male, Slorkram, behaviour. As Hearn (1998: 133 author’s emphasis) highlights, this 28 years old, married, hotel bellboy.) produces a paradox here in the sense that ‘blame is accepted but As Kamol highlights, alcohol is one means of dealing with the prob- on the condition that there is something else to explain the source lem of searching for employment and can result in inter-spousal that accounts for the blame’. violence. Meanwhile, Darany points out in a general (rather than In some women’s accounts, it even appears that drunkenness personal) sense, that drinking is a ‘normal’ and daily way for men attracts more criticism than violence. With no education, Sochea- to cope with the stress of fulfilling a recognised ‘provider’ role in tha married at the age of 19, and has been the victim of verbal abuse since early on in her marriage. She explained that, 20 Linguistically, at least in Khmer, there is no distinction between house and home ‘There is violence in the family when he is drunk but when (Phteah). While Phteah literally means house, the Khmer word Kruosaris roughly he doesn’t drink it is fine. Drinking is only one problem equivalent to family and is used to refer to the household. While in Western and I am not scared to live in the house because I have theoretical debates automatic associations between ‘home’, family and household has always lived in this situation. I think Khmer drink too much. been the subject of much debate, semantically at least in Cambodian, they are used interchangeably (See Brickell, 2007 for further discussion). In terms of rice wine, they drink 2 litres but for beer they can 21 The idea that women should accept domestic violence can be part related to 19th drink 2 boxes each and still not be drunk. I don’t know why century normative Cambodian poems predating the conflict such as the Chbab Srei they drink. And when I ask my husband why he drinks every (Rules for Women) which advise women to: ‘Follow the command of the husband like day he says that ‘‘while I drink I am strong to work but if I a slave; dread your husband’s heart for fear of otherwise being insulted or beaten; cook well and never dare to eat until your husband returns home; suppress your don’t drink then I am weak”. If he doesn’t go to work he emotions to avoid the risk of having your husband insult you; even if your husband always meets friends and drinks nearly everyday but if he has a terrible temper, you must never dare to reply’ (Quoted Zimmerman, 1994, 26). K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675 1673 the family. Darany reflects on the supposedly ‘crazy’ situation, we haven’t the money for my children to study. I must save which men find themselves in – of knowing that drinking is poten- my money as we are poor.’ (Vannak, male, Slorkram, 41 tially damaging to their health – but being unable to control the years old, married, motorbike driver.) urge to get drunk and be released from the confines of routine As Vannak illustrates, the pressure to conform to a hegemonic and work. In this way, Darany draws on the idea that men are so- model of masculinity (aided and validated by alcohol consumption) cially dispositioned to drink alcohol excessively, which may then often disenfranchises men who do not wish to behave in this way. be assumed to ‘explain’ any violence (Hearn, 1998, 23). Instead, some men use home as a refuge from norms of ‘masculine’ The aforementioned problems associated with employment are performance and shows how alcohol consumption links to spatial often related to a strong perception that ‘men’s work’ is under relations and practices – in this case to avoidance. For Vannak, threat (deemed to be that related to ‘outdoor work’ and largely home represents privacy from societal expectations and commu- connected with farming) in comparison to the relative increases nity-level definitions of masculinity identified with regular drink- of women’s opportunities in the service-oriented industries associ- ing. Home thereby represents a subordinate style of masculinity ated with tourism in Siem Reap (Brickell, 2007, 2008). Many urban away from the persuasion of those in the public sphere who have residents like Kamol and Darany are former farmers, who migrated the power to define what is ‘normal’, or ‘ordinary’, male behaviour. to Siem Reap in search of work.22 As Pernanen (1991, 194) argues, Vannak’s interview also alludes to differing patterns of drinking academics are not only studying alcohol but also several types of in rural and urban settings. Vannak highlights the lack of commu- empirical contingencies, in which rising frustrations related to the nity cohesion in urban areas where life is more individualised and market economy for men in Cambodia is one.23 These structural men drink in the bars and clubs that have proliferated with the factors, including poverty and unemployment, are also cited as town’s rapid tourist-centred growth (some lower-income men also underlying problems in other studies on intra-household conflicts, drink in the vicinity of their homes where they consume industri- gender-based violence and alcoholism in Guatemala (McIlwaine ally brewed beers). This is contrasted with the home-based drink- and Moser, 2004, 60) and Colombia (Alcarez and Suárez, 2006).24 ing of Vannak’s rural homeland where the production of rice wine is a regular part of the household economy.25 These changes in mi- 7.3. Sprouting bamboo shoots? embracing non-drinking and soberness grant drinking patterns mirror experiences of Mixtec Indian settlers in Mexico City where the peasant drinks beer and tequila rather than ‘Children should help their families even though parents act traditional fermented juice and is ‘emancipated from the control of oppositely in society. We use the term ‘bamboo shoot’ to ancestral custom’ – but at the same time suffers by the ‘release from mean how the new generation can be something new e.g. intimate group participation’ (Butterworth, 1970, 102). if the father is a heavy drinker the children can still be better Similarly, in the developing world, ‘it should not be automati- off.’ (Buntha, male, Slorkram, 82 years old, single, Buddhist cally assumed that drinking is more common or heavy in the urban monk.) environment than in the countryside’ since moving to the city may be associated with reduced drinking (Finnish Foundation for Alco- In the final section of this paper, I consider the perspectives of men hol Studies, 2002, 113). In fact, new priorities emerge in urban who reject excessive alcohol consumption. As Buntha’s reference to areas, which means that some men are conscious of the need to the bamboo shoot illustrates, heavy drinking by one generation will curtail their drinking into order to pay for their children’s educa- not necessarily repeat itself in the behaviours of the next and while tion or cope with the general burden of poverty.26 As Chann and relations between some groups of men are characterised by peer Kesor explain, pressure, this does not mean that all men succumb to heavy drinking. In contrast to the communal drinking of Krobei Riel, I met a ‘Some men when they get drunk say that they do not want their number of Slorkram men who purposely opt out of group drinking children to go to school- that education is not important. Maybe by strategically remaining inside the home to avoid being coerced they want their children to have a job as a drunkard! ...One can into participating. Having migrated from Kampong Cham province lose respect when one does not respect others in the village, in 2002, motorbike driver Vannak lives in a house borrowed from especially if one is a drunkard. Arguments happen when people his brother and adopts this tactic, are drunk. They don’t think when they drink... for me I like staying in at the home looking after my children. For the rich ‘I not only miss my old home but my friends. In the country- men, they like girls outside the home. I do not have enough side we drink and dance at home which is different from in money to spend on alcohol. Anyway, my health is not good the town. If we want to do this we have to go to a bar or res- enough for me to do that. Other men, they spend most of the taurant. During the Khmer New Year we have meetings and evening drinking because they have the money and are happier drink together in the village. Family life here is very sepa- with more than one women.’ (Chann, male, Slorkram, 24 years rate- we live in our home and the others live in theirs. I like old, married, motorbike driver.) sitting here as opposed to outside also because I don’t want ‘My husband and I often argue and if he drank alcohol or if he to meet any of the neighbours- they drink every day. They was immature we would be divorced. We have no time to drink always drink and if they see me they ask for drink because alcohol because we are poor. He tries to work hard to earn they don’t have any money. At my homeland I did drink money as a mechanic for us.’ (Kesor, female, Slorkram, 47 years though because my wife made rice wine but now no because old, married, soup seller.)
22 Food security remains a serious problem in Cambodia with agricultural produc- tivity extremely low (at US $480 per ha) and is compounded by increasing pressures on land, making it extremely difficult for small farmers to survive (UNIFEM et al., 2004, 6). 23 In Krobei Riel, unemployment was seen to result in gambling and alcohol 25 Rice wine has an alcohol percentage of approximately 30–40%. One litre costs addictions, with two suicides in recent years. Apparently these were the consequence around 1200 riel (about $0.30 cents) and can make one person very heavily drunk of being forced to sell land in order to pay off debts, with the men feeling so (Rammage, 2002, 23). distraught that they could not support their families, that they took their own lives. 26 In Mexico City, migrants also become much more ‘‘regimented drinkers” with the 24 This does not mean however that all men at the bottom of the socio-economic frequency and quantity of consumption of alcohol beverages diminishing in light of hierarchy are necessarily more violent towards women than wealthier men (Pickup the higher value placed on the stability and dependability of their jobs (Butterworth, et al., 2001). 1970, 104). 1674 K. Brickell / Geoforum 39 (2008) 1667–1675
As the interviews show, alcohol is an expressed concern because consumption of alcohol and exercise of violence which could of its negative associations with poverty, the reduction of health, encompass a more concentrated focus on the identification of per- capacity to work, loss of respect, and association with licentious sonal and social factors, which influence men to adopt non-violent behaviour. 27 Just as McDowell (2002, 97) argues in relation to ‘lads’ practices and behaviours (Cleaver, 2002). Future research search- in the UK, that masculinity is itself complex and variable and com- ing for alternatives to conventional meanings of masculinity could bines not only protest and resistance but also respectability and examine differences in why certain men adopt non-drinking and domestic aspirations; Chann and Vannak clearly imply the impor- non-violent practices and explore the extent to which they repre- tance of the economic and social well-being of their families. sent the formation of more equitable relationships with women. Similarly, Kesor is one of a number of women who speak of their hus- Overall therefore, further analysis of explanations for violence bands’ efforts to contribute to family provision through employment, could elucidate a greater understanding of the barriers which need rather than spending time drinking. Related to this, the rationale for to be tackled in order for gender-based violence to be understood abstaining from getting drunk is also combined with the worry artic- as a struggle for equality in men and women’s everyday lives. ulated by Chann to maintain respect and status in the community, rather than lose it as a ‘drunkard’. The interviews therefore point to Acknowledgements the varied individual and community level responses to alcohol use, as well as to men’s differential motivations for upholding soberness. The author wishes to thank the Economic and Social Research Council (Award No. PTA-030-2002-00869) for the funding on 8. Concluding thoughts: extinguishing ‘Fire’ in post-conflict which this paper is based. Thanks also to the reviewers for their Cambodia invaluable suggestions, Sylvia Chant (LSE) and James Kneale (UCL) for their comments on initial drafts. 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