The Barter Economy of the Khmer Rouge Labor Camps

"Pribble investigates the barter economies that developed in many of the labor camps established under the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge abolished currency and markets in 1975, starving Cambodians created underground exchanges in labor camps throughout the country, bartering luxury items for food and other necessities, while simultaneously undermining the regime's ideological goals of eliminating any traces of capitalism in Democratic Kampuchea. Pribble asserts three key points about the barter economy in the Khmer Rouge labor camps. First, the underground exchanges in Democratic Kampuchea provided food and medicine for desperate people subsisting under a totalitarian regime, saving the lives of countless Cambodians. Second, bartering was the riskiest way to obtain food because it was dependent upon the discretion of two or more individuals from different social classes under the threat of violent punishment, thereby altering the social dynamics of the camps. Finally, despite the regime's extreme efforts to eliminate foreign influence from the country and impose communist ideology on millions of citizens, basic forms of market capitalism and a demand for superfluous luxury goods persisted in labor camps throughout the country. A fascinating study of the human consequences of imposing rigid ideology, that will be of particular interest to scholars and students of political history and Southeast Asian history"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgments Introduction Definitions Sources and Methodology Main Arguments Historiography Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 1: Revolution and the Labor Camps Evacuations and Labor Camps Village Life before the Khmer Rouge Notes Bibliography Chapter 2: The Abolition of Currency and Its Ideological Roots Ideological Roots Evolution of the Currency Policy Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 3: Origins of the Barter Economy Conclusion Notes Bibiliography Chapter 4: Substitute Currencies: Rice and Gold Rice as Currency Gold as Currency Negotiation Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 5: Other Substitute Currencies Clothing Salt Sugar Medicine Tobacco Meat Watches Other Currencies Conclusion Notes Bibiliography Chapter 6: Perils and Punishments Surveillance Punishments Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 7: Chinese Khmers in the Underground Economy History of the Chinese in Cambodia Hostilities against Chinese Khmers The Chinese Khmers and the Barter Economy of Democratic Kampuchea Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 8: Khmer Women and the Barter Economy Women Bartering in the Camps Mothers as Heroes and Saviors Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 9: Base People versus New People The Relationship between New People and Base People Motivations for Owning Luxury Items Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 10: Cadres, Watches, and Lighter Chains Cadres and Wristwatches Cadres and Lighter Chains Cadres in the Underground Markets Conclusion Notes Bibliography Chapter 11: Aftermath Barter Explosion after Khmer Rouge Collapse The Reintroduction of Currency Conclusion Notes Bibliography Conclusion Index