Cambodia: A Shattered Society [Hardcover]

Marie Alexandrine Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 1994

The history of modern Cambodia has been one of invasion, occupation, political chaos, and genocidal terror. Marie Martin traces the evolution of post-World War II Cambodian politics and society, examining the disintegration of a once-peaceful nation. Interviews with peasants, refugees, politicians, and intellectuals, as well as exhaustive archival research, make this both a stirring ethnographic portrait and an exacting political analysis.
Twenty-five years of research and travel in Cambodia, much of it spent living in peasant villages, give Martin a unique perspective on the country's tragedies. She explores the influence of colonialism, Sihanouk's fragile position, popular socialism, and the Vietnam War, and also charts the politicization of Khmer youth, the right's rise to power, and peasant revolts. The horrors that occurred under the Khmer Rouge are documented, as are the grim atrocities of the Vietnamese occupation. Martin also examines the tenuous political configurations of present-day Cambodia and considers the country's future.
No book in English deals so completely with the political culture of Cambodia, and no writer has been more unrelenting and impassioned in testifying to the agony of the Cambodian people than Marie Martin. Her book will be acclaimed for its wealth of new information and for bearing eloquent witness to Cambodia's tragic story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This history of post-WW II Cambodia by a French anthropologist recalls how Norodom Sihanouk struggled to maintain Cambodia's neutrality and independence in the face of invasion, occupation and domestic chaos until his overthrow by General Lon Nol in 1970. Martin recounts how the Khmer Rouge exploited Sihanouk's continuing popularity with the peasants for propaganda purposes. Most impressive is her examination of the subsequent Khmer Rouge revolution, which includes previously unpublished testimony shedding light on the Khmer Rouge's attempt to abolish the Cambodian family structure, the educational system and individual freedom while carrying out a genocidal campaign against the Cambodian people. Although ponderously written, Martin's book is a richly informative case history of the political and social disintegration of an entire people.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Translated and updated from a 1989 French edition, this volume provides a thorough history of Cambodia up to the 1991 signing of the Paris Accords, which brought an end to the civil war there. Anthropologist Martin has spent considerable time in Cambodia and displays a keen knowledge of Khmer society. She has a sound grasp on the social dynamics of Cambodian society, and her book is strong on analysis and cultural insight. But it does not provide a clear narrative track allowing readers to follow the political events that have shaped Cambodia's fate and, thus, will be of interest chiefly to experts: Its appendixes, which constitutes a full quarter of the text, contain an extensive chronology and a number of rare documents. Michael Haas's Genocide by Proxy (Praeger, 1991) does a better job in presenting the domestic political developments and the international influences on the country. Recommended for academic libraries with strong holdings in Southeast Asia.
James Rhodes, Luther Coll., Decorah, Ia.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 383 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press; Rev Upd edition (July 11, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520070526
• ISBN-13: 978-0520070523
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,852,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sad Truth, June 13, 2010

By 

Neaksré - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambodia: A Shattered Society (Hardcover)

My family and I had endured unspeakable torment under the Khmer Rouge Regime. At times, the information Dr. Martin presents is a bit hard to swallow, but it's the truth. For those who have attempted to ostracize Dr. Martin for her earnest work, I'd like you to know unless you went through what many victims of the holocaust went through you cannot even begin to fathom what we as a collective have witnessed and endured.

0 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly Documented, May 10, 2006

By 

Truth Seeker - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cambodia: A Shattered Society (Hardcover)

"Cambodia, a Shattered Society?" claims that two million people died in the 1975-1979 Khmer Rouge reign of terror.

Khmer Rouge Marxist guerrilla forces made their first appearance in the late 1960s. The authoritarian regime fought them, but some villagers sided with Vietnamese Communists because of government land seizures.

There are some serious problems with terminology. The guerilla subversion was called a "republican" war, yet it had no republican characteristics. The effort to root out communists was called a "witch-hunt," but the concept of a witch-hunt requires that there be no actual witches. Students were always called "intellectuals" when they might better have been labeled "dupes." And Mao was "the great helmsman." I guess this is what you get when you have a leftist writing about a leftist atrocity. This is either a bad translation, or the author is guilty of sloppy thinking.

When the Marxists gained power, and they immediately followed the predictable pattern. They set out to eliminate any source of opposition. There was war against religion, the bourgeoisie, and former state employees.

Then Phnom Penh was emptied when power-tripping, intolerant social planners forced everyone out of the cities and into the country. Stragglers were shot, people could only obtain a starvation diet, they were conscripted to do forced labor, and worse. Families were separated, spies were everywhere, and individuals were no longer able to take the initiative to decide their future. Cambodians faced arbitrary arrests.

The revolutionary cadres ignored local peasants' proven methods, and they introduced Chinese methods of agriculture that were unsuited for local varieties. If anyone ate a grasshopper on the sly, broke a tool, or relaxed the pace of work, they were declared a traitor to the revolution.

God was the Communist Party. In other words, it was Hell on earth. The welfare of the people was not an objective. Well, collectivists and social planners, there you have it: your dream, Cambodia.

But to be fair, it wasn't bad for everyone. "The leaders had veritable feasts, commanding officers and soldiers possessed several cars..." The rest of the people traveled on foot.

Maybe these atrocities were even too much for the Vietnamese. They occupied the country, but weren't really too hard on their brother Marxists. All they wanted was to grab some territory, send over some settlers, rape some chicks, and stop the tide of blood from rising. Vietnamese immigrants continued to settle, leading to political, social and economic difficulties.

We're told that, "Vietnam imposed on Cambodia a painful and complete protectorate, against the will of the entire population..." And, right after that we were told that, "They did not mistreat the people, who welcomed them as liberators." That's what is exasperating about this book: was the occupation against the will of the people, or did the people welcome the liberators?

Maybe this is the ultimate political correctness. Every time a statement is made, immediately contradict it, and that way nobody's feelings are hurt...or maybe the book is therefore unacceptable to everyone.

Unfortunately, this book was so loosely documented that now I'm wondering if the body count was inflated.

END