Using classification to convict the Khmer Rouge

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of classification structures to efforts at holding perpetrators of human rights abuses accountable using one archival repository in Cambodia as a case study.

Design/methodology/approach

The primary methodology of this paper is a textual analysis of the Documentation Center of Cambodia's classification scheme, as well as a conceptual analysis using the theoretical framework originally posited by Bowker and Star and further developed by Harris and Duff. These analyses were supplemented by interviews with key participants.

Findings

The Documentation Center of Cambodia's classification of Khmer Rouge records by ethnic identity has had a major impact on charging former officials of the regime with genocide in the ongoing human rights tribunal.

Social implications

As this exploration of the DC‐Cam database shows, archival description can be used as a tool to promote accountability in societies coming to terms with difficult histories.

Originality/value

This paper expands and revises Harris and Duff's definition of liberatory description to include Spivak's concept of strategic essentialism, arguing that archivists’ classification choices have important ethical and legal consequences.

Citation

Caswell, M. (2012), "Using classification to convict the Khmer Rouge", Journal of Documentation, Vol. 68 No. 2, pp. 162-184. https://doi.org/10.1108/00220411211209177