CSO Networks and Resistance to Forced Displacement in Cambodia

Abstract

While development-related conflicts are remarkably common in many regions, successful resolution of these conflicts, from the community perspective, is rare. The existing literature shows that early and sustained engagement with civil society has been key in securing better outcomes for communities, however, the activities and interventions of CSO networks that facilitate this are less clear. Based on more than a year of ethnographic field research in two communities engaged in protracted development-related conflicts in Cambodia, I find that through engagement with civil society networks, community members develop new understandings of development and development-related conflicts, particularly the role of the state in resolving or not resolving these conflicts, and awareness of potential solutions to those conflicts as well as of their own agency in seeking resolutions. These new understandings and agency enable community members to remain engaged in protracted conflicts, despite the high costs and barriers which increases the likelihood that the conflict will be resolved in ways that community members consider successful or at least less detrimental. The research indicates that sustained engagement with CSO networks, particularly local and regional CSOs, can help to ensure better outcomes for communities engaged in development-related conflicts in Southeast Asia.