ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the recent globalisation trend and its impact on the reconstruction of Cambodian society in various ways have contributed to making space for the image of 'the woman politician' and the political legitimacy of Cambodian women. Globalisation has contributed to women's political legitimacy and possibilities and to making a space for a female political identity in at least three senses. The first strategy of resistance used by female politicians in Cambodia was to give women the monopoly of specific technological knowledge, made possible by globalisation, thus in some senses negotiating the hierarchy between the sexes. Secondly, one may speculate that discourses are being more easily transformed now with growing globalisation. A third strategy involves bringing more women into politics by introducing new images of female identification and thereby challenging old established 'truths' about 'who is a politician'. In this regard, Cambodian women seem to lean upon more Western discourses in order to make legitimate their political power.
