In "Kampuchea: A Rationale for a Rural Policy," the Marxist scholar Malcolm Caldwell presents an academic examination of the revolutionary transformation of Democratic Kampuchea, challenging prevailing Western narratives by analyzing the country's economic and social policies. Caldwell explores how the Khmer Rouge implemented self-reliant development, abolishing private property and money while restructuring Cambodia's economy to prioritize collectivized agriculture and equitable distribution. The text highlights the rapid expansion of irrigation networks, the transition to cooperative labor, and the reported increase in rice production, allowing Kampuchea to reduce reliance on foreign imports. The document also examines Vietnam's military intervention, arguing that external forces sought to suppress Kampuchea's independent socialist experiment. This work provides a crucial resource for scholars of revolutionary state-building, offering a rare contemporary perspective.