This multidisciplinary and
international research project looks at different forms of symbolic
reparations for victims of human rights violations in Cambodia, and
at how these processes intersect with religion, politics, and
professional therapeutic approaches, thus taking on new forms. The
overall aim is to contribute to the understanding of healing after
violence-related trauma in low-income countries, which are
transitioning from conflict towards peace and democracy.
A broad interdisciplinary
approach to these questions is required, building on
medical-anthropology, trans-cultural psychiatry, cognitive and
cultural psychology, as well as international law. With
globalization, healing approaches move around and across religious,
cultural, and political boundaries, and professional approaches are
inspired by indigenous forms of healing (e.g., "Mindfulness",
"Meditation", or "Rituals"). Symbolic reparations through
religious, cultural and legal processes take on new meanings. The
project focuses on the types of interactions, transactions, and
conflicts that take place when indigenous and professional
languages of healing are juxtaposed, and the ways in which these
languages become transformed and innovative in their subsequent
application. In this sense, the project represents a break with
current cross-cultural dichotomies, which categorize healing
approaches as either local or Western.
The project is supported by the Danish Council for Independent
Research/Humanities (FKK)
Cooperation
This project is carried out in close cooperation with Transcultural
Psychosocial Organisation - Cambodia (TPO).