Lamb, V; Middleton, C
(BRICS Initiatives for Critical Agrarian Studies (BICAS), 2015)
While recent work on land grabbing in Cambodia examines the role of gender with regard to women’s roles in Cambodia (Brickell 2014, Amnesty International 2011, Licadho 2015), in this paper we reflect on gender and land access in rural Cambodia, considering the impacts to gender not only as related to “women” but as related to male identity and masculinity as well as related to livelihood change. To do so, we draw on a case study of forced eviction and subsequent creation of a Social Land Concession (SLC) in Kratie Province in Cambodia’s northeast. The paper is based on fieldwork and a systematic review of literature and policies of land access in Cambodia. Analysis of the case reveals that gender relationships were being significantly altered as a result of land title changes and struggles against eviction. We argue, furthermore, that it is not only women’s gender roles and responsibilities that are changing – it is also male responsibility, identity, and belonging that are being significantly altered, which is an aspect too often overlooked in gender and land literatures.