Neoliberalising Cambodia: The Production of Capacity in Southeast Asia

AbstractThe current Cambodian experience of re-integration into the regional and global economies reveals a process of violent neoliberal accumulation. Under the guise of clean, frictionless neoclassical economics, neoliberalism has reformulated the role of state and society. This article examines how notions of ‘capacity’ or ‘capacity-building’ reflect a commitment to this understanding of economic systems. Market building and deepening, which involve the expansion and regulation of ‘capacities’, are intrinsically tied to this commitment. It is argued that technocratic, administrative, and pseudo-scientific discursive acts are central to the production and reproduction of neoliberal agendas. This is evidenced by the complicit role of international financial institutions, the Cambodian state, civil society groups, and governance structures more generally. Yet the ever-deepening roll-out of neoliberalism in Cambodia is far from complete. What is evident is that this unique proto-regulatory environment reve...