Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Liberalism in Cambodia : Broken Lineages

Norén Nilsson, Astrid LU (2023) In Asian Studies Review 47(1). p.54-68
Abstract
This article seeks to recover strands of liberalism in Cambodian politics from the period leading up to Independence onwards. It uses Bell’s (2014) summative conception of the liberal tradition, which understands liberalism contextually as a constructed and contested historical phenomenon. The starting point of the analysis is liberalism from the vantage point of the present: today’s half-hearted liberals, and those they may bring up when tracing a liberal genealogy. It is argued that the intersection with global liberalism currently is this: while today’s democratic opposition does not seek to ‘translate’ liberalism into Cambodian terms, it considers its own political mission to be part of a global liberal-democratic agenda when... (More)
This article seeks to recover strands of liberalism in Cambodian politics from the period leading up to Independence onwards. It uses Bell’s (2014) summative conception of the liberal tradition, which understands liberalism contextually as a constructed and contested historical phenomenon. The starting point of the analysis is liberalism from the vantage point of the present: today’s half-hearted liberals, and those they may bring up when tracing a liberal genealogy. It is argued that the intersection with global liberalism currently is this: while today’s democratic opposition does not seek to ‘translate’ liberalism into Cambodian terms, it considers its own political mission to be part of a global liberal-democratic agenda when translating Cambodian realities to the global context. The article makes a claim for something that never came to be: broken lineages retrieved from undersized engagements with liberalism, enmeshed in other political agendas. Tracing the stunted circulation of liberal idioms, it is argued, allows us to see the comparatively familiar history of the more dominant political ideologies and projects differently. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cambodia, liberalism, ideology, democracy, nationalism
in
Asian Studies Review
volume
47
issue
1
pages
15 pages
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • scopus:85125886538
ISSN
1035-7823
DOI
10.1080/10357823.2022.2041551
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e0d82099-6703-4df0-880b-085b14111131
date added to LUP
2022-03-08 11:30:44
date last changed
2023-10-26 14:59:08
@article{e0d82099-6703-4df0-880b-085b14111131,
  abstract     = {{This article seeks to recover strands of liberalism in Cambodian politics from the period leading up to Independence onwards. It uses Bell’s (2014) summative conception of the liberal tradition, which understands liberalism contextually as a constructed and contested historical phenomenon. The starting point of the analysis is liberalism from the vantage point of the present: today’s half-hearted liberals, and those they may bring up when tracing a liberal genealogy. It is argued that the intersection with global liberalism currently is this: while today’s democratic opposition does not seek to ‘translate’ liberalism into Cambodian terms, it considers its own political mission to be part of a global liberal-democratic agenda when translating Cambodian realities to the global context. The article makes a claim for something that never came to be: broken lineages retrieved from undersized engagements with liberalism, enmeshed in other political agendas. Tracing the stunted circulation of liberal idioms, it is argued, allows us to see the comparatively familiar history of the more dominant political ideologies and projects differently.}},
  author       = {{Norén Nilsson, Astrid}},
  issn         = {{1035-7823}},
  keywords     = {{Cambodia; liberalism; ideology; democracy; nationalism}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{54--68}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Asian Studies Review}},
  title        = {{Liberalism in Cambodia : Broken Lineages}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2022.2041551}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/10357823.2022.2041551}},
  volume       = {{47}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}