Next presentation: Wednesday 19th of October 2011, 6pm

Cambodian French returnees' employment of social capital.

A multisited study on the evolution of transnational institutional entrepreneurship

by G.DMD Wijers, Msc. MA

Abstract

This study questions in what ways first generation Cambodian French returnees evaluate their activities aimed at the reform of Cambodian institutions. This subject is linked to the societal debate on the ways in which institutional entrepreneurial activities, for instance, the work of (inter)national aid organizations, may impact the development of an emerging nation. Arguments are developed from the history of Cambodian exile and return and three case studies collected during multisited fieldwork in France and Cambodia. Findings propose that theory places too much emphasis on the positive uses of social capital and on the positive effects of institutional entrepreneurs' multiple embeddedness.