Man or Monster?: The Trial of a Khmer Rouge Torturer

by Alexander Laban Hinton

Overview

During the Khmer Rouge's brutal reign in Cambodia during the mid-to-late 1970s, a former math teacher named Duch served as the commandant of the S-21 security center, where as many as 20,000 victims were interrogated, tortured, and executed. In 2009 Duch stood trial for these crimes against humanity. While the prosecution painted Duch as evil, his defense lawyers claimed he simply followed orders. In Man or Monster? Alexander Hinton uses creative ethnographic writing, extensive fieldwork, hundreds of interviews, and his experience attending Duch's trial to create a nuanced analysis of Duch, the tribunal, the Khmer Rouge, and the after-effects of Cambodia's genocide. Interested in how a person becomes a torturer and executioner as well as the law's ability to grapple with crimes against humanity, Hinton adapts Hannah Arendt's notion of the "banality of evil" to consider how the potential for violence is embedded in the everyday ways people articulate meaning and comprehend the world. Man or Monster? provides novel ways to consider justice, terror, genocide, memory, truth, and humanity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780822362739
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	11/08/2016
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	360
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Alexander Laban Hinton is Founding Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights and Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. He is coeditor of Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America, also published by Duke University Press, and author of the award-winning Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide.

Table of Contents

The Accused, Fact Sheet, Public Version—Radacted  1
Foreground. Monster  3
Part I. Confession
Interrogation. Comrade Duch's Abecedarian  41
1. Man (Opening Arguments)  44
2. Revolutionary (M-13 Prison)  68
3. Subordinate (Establishment of S-21)  90
4. Cog (Policy and Implementation)  103
5. Commandant (Functioning of S-21)  130
6. Master (Torture and Execution)  142
Erasure. Durch's Apology  168
Part II. Reconstruction
Torture, A Collage. The Testimony of Prak Khan, S-21 Interrogator  171
7. Villain (The Civil Parties)  176
8. Zealot (Prosecution)  197
9. Scapegoat (Defense)  213
10. The Accused (Trial Chamber Judgment)  229
Background. Redactic (Final Decision)  243
Epilogue. Man or Monster? (Conviction)  288
Acknowledgments  297
Timeline  301
Abbreviations  303
Notes  305
Bibliography  335
Index  345

What People are Saying About This

A History of Cambodia - David Chandler

"Man or Monster? is an elegantly written, passionate, and well-documented treatment of genocide, collective memory, transitional justice, the problem of evil, and the trajectory of Cambodian history. Alexander Hinton's decades of engagement with these issues and with Cambodia give the book power, persuasiveness, and integrity."

Lawrence Douglas

"Alexander Hinton’s finely observed and elegantly meditative study of the Duch trial before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal prods us to think critically about how criminal trials construct and frame images of perpetrators of mass atrocity. Man or Monster? is a singular achievement."

Editorial Reviews

"Man or Monster? will be useful to those studying anthropology, geography, international relations, transitional justice and law, genocide, violence, and post-conflict politics. It will also be of use to those considering the very work we do as social scientists; how what we do is intimately involved in the frames of how others come to understand particular places, people, and events."--JoAnn DiGeorgio-Lutz "Journal of Southeast Asian Studies" (6/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)

"Alexander Laban Hinton has written a highly engaging and experimental ethnography of international justice that narrates the criminal trial of Kaing Guek Eav (aka 'Duch'), a central figure in the 'killing fields' of 1970s Cambodia."--Richard A. Wilson "Anthropology Book Forum" (8/15/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Compelling. . . . A highly original account."--Rachel Hughes "Law & Society Review" (1/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton does the reader a tremendous service by not reducing Duch to a single identity. The book is certainly not a sympathetic take on Duch's character, but it is a concerted effort to create a multidimensional understanding of a complicated man acting in complicated circumstances.... By using Duch's trial as a case study, Hinton also addresses the many larger questions of transitional justice."--Sharon Wu "LSE Review of Books" (5/8/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton expertly weaves trial proceedings, testimonials, and contemporary analyses of Democratic Kampuchea, thereby crafting an ambitious exposé of Duch's trial and the various forces behind collective memory of him.... Man or Monster? is a thought-provoking literary triumph by Hinton"--Matthew Galway "Journal of International and Global Studies" (5/15/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton gives a reader unfamiliar with these proceedings a good picture of how they were conceived, how they have unfolded, and how civil society in Cambodia has interacted with them."--John Quigley "Human Rights Quarterly" (2/1/2019 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton has written a commendable work offering a new standard in the field of ethnodramatisation linked to the performative realm of an international tribunal where the hybrid nature of the court against the background of a shattered Buddhist society rebuilding from the ashes makes for real spectacle. . . . His book also stands out for its literary and philosophical innovations."
--Geoffrey C. Gunn "Journal of Contemporary Asia" (1/29/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton has written an interesting and insightful book, with a critical look at the way justice shapes and 'redacts' our understanding of the past, and an invitation for its readers to analyze our own way of seeing the world and overcome the simple categorizations we all use in our everyday life, which can have monstrous consequences."
--Sanne Weber "Historical Dialogues" (3/10/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton's 'ethnodrama' of the trial of Duch is largely a chronological account, interspersed with personal commentary and even some poetic interludes that make it anything but a dry academic tome. . . . Man or Monster is unique in its appeal both to students of post-conflict socio-political issues and to the general reader, and is a major contribution to genocide studies."
--D. Gordon Longmuir "Pacific Affairs" (9/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton's book doesn't just tackle the complexity of a character like Duch through the lens of the trial. It offers a way to understand the court proceedings, which can often be dry, convoluted, and peppered with legalistic jargon."--Erin Handley "Phnom Penh Post" (11/4/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"Hinton's intent is ambitious and unusual; recording is not enough. As he explains in his dense introduction, he wants us to understand this man, this trial and the questions it raises in our very bones. So, contrary to standard academic practice, he presents his material in an astonishing variety of ways. . . . Hinton's book is profound, insightful and singular, probably even important. Most certainly a boon to anyone interested in Khmer Rouge history, international tribunals, torture or the ambiguities of evil."
--Antonia D. Bryan "Mekong Review" (11/4/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"The book draws on various literary genres in compiling a work which is artistic and scholarly, readable yet theoretically grounded, empirically rigorous and engaging yet approachable by people unfamiliar with the case. . . . This book will become standard reading for anyone studying the portrayal of perpetrators during post-conflict justice processes. . . ."--Timothy Williams "Genocide Studies and Prevention" (12/22/2016 12:00:00 AM)

"The book is a stunning achievement. . . . Hinton succeeds beautifully in drawing the reader into a confrontation with our own articulations and redactions of the world around us."--Catherine Bolten "American Anthropologist" (3/1/2018 12:00:00 AM)

"The book, with its chilling but instructive contents, will benefit tremendously Asian experts as well as specialists on pogrom as well as researchers and students interested in the Cambodian story."--Augustine Adu-Frimpong "African and Asian Studies" (5/1/2017 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

"The book draws on various literary genres in compiling a work which is artistic and scholarly, readable yet theoretically grounded, empirically rigorous and engaging yet approachable by people unfamiliar with the case. . . . This book will become standard reading for anyone studying the portrayal of perpetrators during post-conflict justice processes. . . ."

Genocide Studies and Prevention - Timothy Williams

Compelling. . . . A highly original account.

Law & Society Review - Rachel Hughes

"The book, with its chilling but instructive contents, will benefit tremendously Asian experts as well as specialists on pogrom as well as researchers and students interested in the Cambodian story."

African and Asian Studies - Augustine Adu-Frimpong

"Hinton’s book doesn’t just tackle the complexity of a character like Duch through the lens of the trial. It offers a way to understand the court proceedings, which can often be dry, convoluted, and peppered with legalistic jargon."

Phnom Penh Post - Erin Handley

"Hinton has written a commendable work offering a new standard in the field of ethnodramatisation linked to the performative realm of an international tribunal where the hybrid nature of the court against the background of a shattered Buddhist society rebuilding from the ashes makes for real spectacle. . . . His book also stands out for its literary and philosophical innovations."
 

Journal of Contemporary Asia - Geoffrey C. Gunn

"Hinton expertly weaves trial proceedings, testimonials, and contemporary analyses of Democratic Kampuchea, thereby crafting an ambitious exposé of Duch’s trial and the various forces behind collective memory of him.... Man or Monster? is a thought-provoking literary triumph by Hinton"

Journal of International and Global Studies - Matthew Galway

"Hinton’s 'ethnodrama' of the trial of Duch is largely a chronological account, interspersed with personal commentary and even some poetic interludes that make it anything but a dry academic tome.  . . . Man or Monster is unique in its appeal both to students of post-conflict socio-political issues and to the general reader, and is a major contribution to genocide studies."
 

Pacific Affairs - D. Gordon Longmuir

"Hinton gives a reader unfamiliar with these proceedings a good picture of how they were conceived, how they have unfolded, and how civil society in Cambodia has interacted with them.

Human Rights Quarterly - John Quigley

"Hinton does the reader a tremendous service by not reducing Duch to a single identity. The book is certainly not a sympathetic take on Duch’s character, but it is a concerted effort to create a multidimensional understanding of a complicated man acting in complicated circumstances.... By using Duch’s trial as a case study, Hinton also addresses the many larger questions of transitional justice."

LSE Review of Books - Sharon Wu

Man or Monster? will be useful to those studying anthropology, geography, international relations, transitional justice and law, genocide, violence, and post-conflict politics. It will also be of use to those considering the very work we do as social scientists; how what we do is intimately involved in the frames of how others come to understand particular places, people, and events.

Journal of Southeast Asian Studies - JoAnn DiGeorgio-Lutz

"Alexander Laban Hinton has written a highly engaging and experimental ethnography of international justice that narrates the criminal trial of Kaing Guek Eav (aka 'Duch'), a central figure in the 'killing fields’ of 1970s Cambodia."

Anthropology Book Forum - Richard A. Wilson

"Hinton has written an interesting and insightful book, with a critical look at the way justice shapes and 'redacts' our understanding of the past, and an invitation for its readers to analyze our own way of seeing the world and overcome the simple categorizations we all use in our everyday life, which can have monstrous consequences."
 

Historical Dialogues - Sanne Weber

"Hinton’s intent is ambitious and unusual; recording is not enough. As he explains in his dense introduction, he wants us to understand this man, this trial and the questions it raises in our very bones. So, contrary to standard academic practice, he presents his material in an astonishing variety of ways. . . . Hinton’s book is profound, insightful and singular, probably even important. Most certainly a boon to anyone interested in Khmer Rouge history, international tribunals, torture or the ambiguities of evil."
 

Mekong Review - Antonia D. Bryan

"The book is a stunning achievement. . . . Hinton succeeds beautifully in drawing the reader into a confrontation with our own articulations and redactions of the world around us."

American Anthropologist - Catherine Bolten

"Alexander Hinton’s finely observed and elegantly meditative study of the Duch trial before the Khmer Rouge Tribunal prods us to think critically about how criminal trials construct and frame images of perpetrators of mass atrocity. Man or Monster? is a singular achievement."

Lawrence Douglas

"Man or Monster? is an elegantly written, passionate, and well-documented treatment of genocide, collective memory, transitional justice, the problem of evil, and the trajectory of Cambodian history. Alexander Hinton's decades of engagement with these issues and with Cambodia give the book power, persuasiveness, and integrity."

A History of Cambodia - David Chandler