ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to investigate the politics and symbolism of memorial sites in Cambodia that are dedicated to the victims of the Democratic Kampuchea or “Pol Pot” period of 1975-1979. It concentrates especially on the Choeung Ek Center for Genocide Crimes, located in the semi-rural outskirts of Phnom Penh. The chapter also examines local-level genocide memorials found throughout Cambodia. These national and local-level memorials were built during the decade immediately following the 1979 toppling of Pol Pot, during which time the Cambodian state was known as the People’s Republic of Kampuchea. These two types of memorial — the large, central, national-level memorial, and the smaller, local memorial — command significant popular attention in contemporary Cambodia. The Cambodian People’s Party has dominated Cambodian politics since it came to power as the government of the new state of the PRK in 1979.
