Cambodia’s resilience agenda: Understanding how local institutions and actors accept, contest and accommodate an externally driven approach

Abstract

Resilience has become an important priority in many areas of development policy, particularly as a way to understand and manage climate change. Notably, an array of international actors has emerged which seeks to promote and operationalize resilience as a framework for the planning and management of urban areas. Critics argue that the considerable influence wielded by these external actors means that resilience is imposed as a fully formed policy agenda and set of tools and procedures with little relevance to the local context. Using the case of Cambodia, this analysis will show that rather than being simply a development buzzword, an actually existing resilience is produced through friction as the interests of international actors meets the particularities of the Cambodian context. In Cambodia, the resilience agenda is strongly managerial, addressing climate risk through infrastructure and technical assistance that steers clear of engaging with the politically charged roots of differing vulnerabilities in urban areas.