Archives par mot-clé : écrits politiques

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Sam Rainsy : We Didn’t Start the Fire – My Struggle for Democracy in Cambodia [parution]

SamRainsy_WeDid'ntStartTheFire[ndlr] Présentation de l’éditeur.

Cambodia’s long-time opposition leader and former finance minister Sam Rainsy is committed to establishing democracy in his homeland. He is in exile in France to avoid a twelve-year prison sentence on politically motivated charges, and is banned from contesting the July 2013 elections. In this autobiography, he recounts his early years in Cambodia, his family’s expulsion and his relationship with Sihanouk, the Khmer Rouge regime, the Vietnamese occupation, and Hun Sen’s control of the country since the 1980s.

With conviction and insight, Sam Rainsy addresses the issues of poverty and injustice in his country and discusses the challenges to initiating real political, social, and economic reform. His proposals provide a long-term roadmap for a new Cambodia.

Highlights

• How Sam Rainsy was twice subjected to politically motivated assassination attempts

• Sam Rainsy’s relationship, through the years, with Sihanouk

• How Sam Rainsy and his wife tried to save Western hostages held by the Khmer Rouge in 1994

• How the merger of the Sam Rainsy Party with the Human Rights Party creates a new political force that can end Hun Sen’s dominance

• Sam Rainsy’s manifesto for a new Cambodia

 

Réf. Sam Rainsy (With David Whitehouse), We Didn’t Start the Fire. My Struggle for Democracy in Cambodia, Chang Mai : Silkworm Books, 2013, 210 p.

David Whitehouse is a British journalist in Paris.

Source : Silkworm Books

Ouvrage du même auteur : Sam Rainsy, Des racines dans la pierre, Paris, Calmann-Lévy, 2008.

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Phan Chau Trinh and His Political Writings – edited and translated by Vinh Sinh [2009]

[ndlr] Pour accompagner notre billet biographique sur Phan Chau Trinh, il convenait de rappeler l’excellent travail d’édition et de traduction du professeur Vinh Sinh pour faire connaître au public occidental la pensée du grand lettré moderniste.

Phan Chau Trinh (1872-1926) was the earliest proponent of democracy and popular rights in Vietnam. Throughout his life, he favored a moderate approach to political change and advised the country’s leaders to seek gradual progress for Vietnam within the French colonial system. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he did not favor anti-French military alliances or insurgent military resistance, arguing that “to depend on foreign help is foolish and to resort to violence is self-destructive.”

As a result of his exposure to Chinese reformist literature, Phan Chau Trinh assigned top priority to promoting democracy and human rights and to improving Vietnamese people’s lives. He believed that true independence could only be achieved by changing the Vietnamese political culture, and he articulated penetrating criticism of the corruption and superficiality of Vietnam’s officials. His emphasis on changing the fundamental values governing the ruling class’s behavior, as well as his skepticism regarding anticolonial resistance, set Phan Chau Trinh apart from his contemporaries and mark him as a true revolutionary. Vinh Sinh’s masterly introduction to Phan Chau Trinh’s essays illuminate both this turbulent era and the courageous intelligence of the author.

Sinh Vinh is a Professor in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta. (source : Cornell University Press)

Réf. : Phan Chau Trinh (auteur), Vinh Sinh (editeur et traducteur), Phan Chau Trinh and His Political Writings, Ithaca, New York, Southeast Asia Program Publications, Cornell University, 2009, 152 p.

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