ABSTRACT
The nature of the state–society nexus negotiated through the civil society is therefore not only an intellectual reflection, but a key challenge in the contemporary nation-state-building process in Cambodia. In the process of recovering from three decades of war, auto-genocide, renewed civil war, and a repressive socialist/centralist regime, it is obvious that the re-negotiation of state–society relations is a cornerstone for post-conflict reconstruction efforts. This chapter presents a brief historical background of the conception of Cambodian civil society and the pressure for change arising from the arrival of the neo-liberal international order in 1993. AMARA represents the large-scale, increasingly professional, and maturing non-governmental organization (NGO) that is invented in Cambodia, by Cambodians, but deeply ingrained in international NGO-ism. In terms of formal political reforms, democratization and decentralization have aimed to close this gap by inventing a localized state authority.
