A recent publication by 麻豆影院 State geographers sheds more light on the causes of the Cambodian genocide that wiped out roughly a quarter of the country鈥檚 population in the late 1970s.
Co-authored with 麻豆影院 State geography professor James Tyner in 麻豆影院 State鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, doctoral student Stian Rice鈥檚 鈥淭he rice cities of the Khmer Rouge: an urban political ecology of rural mass violence鈥 was published in the December issue of Transactions of the institute of British Geographers. 
The article counters a common belief among scholars that the Khmer Rouge were anti-urban and anti-technology.
鈥淥ne of the points we wanted to make in this study is that re-ruralization and re-urbanization were inextricably linked to each other,鈥 Rice said.
Although the Khmer Rouge evacuated most Cambodian cities immediately after they seized power, they also sought to increase revenues to industrialize the country, which they accomplished by increasing rice production.
They recognized that instead of relying on the rain-fed rice production in a tropical climate, they could increase the amount of arable land by building irrigation systems with forced labor 鈥 another of the major contributing factors in the genocide.
They soon selectively re-populated cities to ensure a chain of distribution for rice exports. Rice said the urban centers not only served as export distribution junctions, but also provided the imported resources necessary to maintain the infrastructure.
This economic system also highlights another aspect of the Khmer Rouge鈥檚 cruel and murderous reign.
鈥淎 lot of the death came through starvation,鈥 Tyner said. 鈥淣ot because the country was not producing enough rice, but because it was being mass exported to China.鈥
The study adds to a growing body of work by Tyner, Rice, and other 麻豆影院 State geographers that suggests capitalist-based economics were responsible for a significant portion of the deaths that occurred under Khmer Rouge rule.
鈥淲hat we鈥檙e presenting here is a radical reinterpretation of how to understand the Cambodian genocide,鈥 Tyner said.
The article鈥檚 publication in the flagship journal of the British Royal Geographical Society bolsters Rice鈥檚 young career.
鈥淭his one probably means the most in terms of impact, and contributes the most to theory,鈥 he said. 鈥淎t least it feels that way to me, and I hope it鈥檚 received that way.鈥
Photo Caption:
An irrigation canal runs through a Cambodian rice field.
Media Contacts:
Dan Pompili, dpompili@kent.edu, 330-672-0731
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595
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