(This event was organized by MEI’s Political Economy Research Cluster, as part of its monthly seminar series.)

Abstract

The history of the Cham is characterized by events that resulted in the geographic displacement and political disposession of the community. As a result of this, and in the wake of the Khmer Rouge period in which Islamic institutions and leadership were comprehensively eliminated, Cham people have found different ways of considering their communal history and their place within the Cambodian State, the Malay world and the Muslim Umma. The result of this has been increasing divisions in the community about the validity of Cham history as grounding for communitarian identity and the compatibility of Cham culture and Islamic orthopraxy. The arrival of missionaries representing foreign understandings of the Muslim religion have created new opportunities for community formation and rebuilding through the provision of economic aid and educational opportunities, as well as new narratives of histroy and community that Cham people have used to reimagine their place in the religion and the wider world.