Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2015/04 the younger Vietnamese generation. The students’ regular exposure to international affairs and citizens from other countries gives this marginalised group an insight into possible alternatives to the current state of affairs. Furthermore, the empowering and democratic nature of prayer in this context, being equally accessible and effective to children of all ages, has the potential to subvert real social power structures (as seen in the previous paragraph). Further longitudinal research will be needed to analyse to what extent these potentialities are realised by this community in Preah Thnov, which is one focus of my PhD research. 5. Conclusion According to Nielson and Isin, acts build upon acts. Acts involve accomplishments, with the moment when they start and end, but they also have continuity within themselves,43 this is evident in the observations I made in Preah Thnov. The affirmation and ‘amen’ of children’s prayers meant their need to be heard was met. Children performed, through prayer, a creation of an alternative world in which they could make requests, political or otherwise and be heard. The act was “answerably aware of itself and actually performed”.44 This is an important observation because it shows that there are multiple facets to speech and political recognition. Populations deemed to live in abject spaces are momentarily subverting their statuses, enacting citizenship and claiming recognition through their intersubjective connections and alternative forms of belonging. The potential for supposedly ‘spiritual’ acts to have significant socio-political impacts is clearly seen by the Liberation Theology movement in Latin America. As the school has only been running for three years, it remains to be seen whether these ‘acts of citizenship’ will develop into a tangible contribution towards a durable solution for the marginalised Vietnamese community in Cambodia. Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, June 2008; D McCargo, ‘Cambodia: Getting Away with Authoritarianism?’ (2005) 16 Journal of Democracy 98. 43 Isin & Nielsen (n 4) 23. 44 ibid 30. 6