Silence, Absence, and the Politics of Memory in the 'Aftermath' of War and Genocide among Southeast Asian Diaspora

Presentation of a research project as part of the "Jeudis de la Maison Suger", a residents' research seminar.

In this session, Khatharya Um invites us to reflect on the preservation of collective memories and the lessons to be drawn from past atrocities to prevent their recurrence. The presentation calls on us to consider our shared responsibility in addressing future challenges.

The theme of the session 

"Even in a century marked by mass atrocities, the revolution and genocide that occurred in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979—following the Khmer Rouge’s seizure of power on 17 April 1975—represent one of the most extreme and brutal episodes of the twentieth century. In less than four years, nearly two million of Cambodia’s small population of fewer than seven million perished from forced labour, disease, starvation, executions, and disappearances. When the regime collapsed in 1979, the population was left largely composed of women and children. A further 500,000 to 600,000 Cambodians fled their ancestral homeland. The Cambodian nation, now fractured by mass dispersal, bears the indelible scars of genocide, which continue to resonate within its culture, institutions, families, and collective psyche—both in Cambodia and throughout the diaspora. A haunting silence and absence linger over Cambodian families, persisting transgenerationally five decades after these events.

This talk explores the themes of absence and silence in the aftermath of war and genocide. It aims both to share insights from my work with Southeast Asian communities and to invite collective reflection on a pressing issue of our time: what it means to live through and with historical trauma. Although centred on Southeast Asian experiences, the issues raised hold global resonance in an age marked by the proliferation of wars and genocidal violence."

Speaker

Khatharya Um is a political scientist and Associate Dean of Social Sciences, as well as an Associate Professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. She is the Co-founder of the Critical Refugee Studies Collective. Her scholarship focuses on Southeast Asia and Asian diaspora studies, migration and critical refugee studies, postcolonial studies, genocide studies, peace and conflict studies, and the politics of memory. She has published extensively on Southeast Asia and its diaspora.