Principal speaker
Dr Melissa Curley, Senior Lecturer, International Relations, The University of Queensland
This presentation draws on recent research on the introduction of the 2015 Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations in Cambodia ("NGO Law") from 2011-2017 and explores its connection to the "rule of law' concept. After outlining the content, definitions and regulatory environment related to the NGO Law, it provides a commentary on its initial application, and examines its potential articulation with other legislation (such as defamation and libel, telecommunications law and land law). Narratives of national security, terrorism, neutrality and cultural cohesion have been interwoven with new regulatory requirements in the Law to obfuscate overt political interference, or the threat thereof. The presentation explores how the NGO Law intersects with, and consolidates, the recent trend of the government's use of legislation as a political tool to control and manipulate political opponents and government critics. Nevertheless, the state's attempts to tighten civil space are being met with resistance and "work around" strategies from the plethora of diverse organisations functioning in Cambodia. Such sites of resistance are discussed and I suggest ways in which we can better analyse and understand the behaviour and impact of civil society actors in contemporary Cambodian politics.
Dr Melissa Curley is Senior Lecturer in International Relations and Director of the UQ Rotary Peace Centre in the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland. Previously she worked at the Centre of Asian Studies at the University of Hong in the China-ASEAN project. Her current research interests include Southeast Asian politics and international relations/law, Cambodian politics, and non-traditional security in East Asia (including trafficking in persons and migrant smuggling, and child exploitation issues). She has published on these topics across International Relations, Political Science and Law, including: Journal of Law and Society, Review of International Studies, and the Australian Journal of Human Rights. Her most recent book is Migration and Security in Asia (with S.L. Wong, Routledge, 2007). She is currently working on a book manuscript on Civil Society and Illiberal Democracy in Cambodia. She serves as a member of the Executive Advisory Board of Bravehearts Inc., a non-profit organisation that works to prevent and protect Australian children from sexual assault, and in 2016 was made a Paul Harris Fellow in recognition of her services to The Rotary Foundation.
Event categories
RSVP
RSVP on or before Monday 6 May 2019 , by email events-gai@griffith.edu.au , or by phone 07 3735 4705
Event contact details
- Kahlia Bartley
- events-gai@griffith.edu.au
- 07 3735 4705