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The use of coercion by the international aid community and resistance from developing country governments is an issue of key importance to democracy and international aid. Dr Gilfillan examines coercion and resistance in the Cambodian case-study presented in this book, through which she explores the adoption and (limited) implementation of a participation policy. The ethnographic study of seven health centres in regional Cambodia was coupled with interviews with policy makers at the national level. How the participation and policy processes have compromised democracy is explored. However, most of the analysis explains the processes of coercion and resistance. Dr Gilfillan shows how participation became a commodity that was consumed in the game of international development. The ways that coercion and resistance occur in the policy landscape of international development are highly important and affect not only the theory but the practice of international development. This research monograph is recommended for academics and practitioners inside both national governments and international aid agencies alike.

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Dr Gilfillan has a Masters in International Relations from the University of NSW and a PhD in Government Studies from the University of Sydney. She has worked in international development settings in Cambodia and Timor Leste and in aid agencies in Australia. She is currently working on literacy programs in Timor Leste.

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