Malcolm Caldwell

James Alexander Malcolm Caldwell (27 September 1931 – 23 December 1978) was a Scottish academic and a prolific Marxist writer. He was a consistent critic of American foreign policy, a campaigner for Asian communist and socialist movements and a supporter of the Khmer Rouge. Caldwell was murdered a few hours after meeting Pol Pot in Cambodia. His murder is generally attributed to the Khmer Rouge regime, though the exact chain of command remains unclear.

Early life and career

Malcolm Caldwell was born in Stirling, Scotland, the son of an architect. He was educated at Kirkcudbright Academy where he was Dux in 1949. He obtained degrees from the University of Nottingham and the University of Edinburgh. He completed two years' national service in the British army, becoming a sergeant in the Army Education Corps. In 1959 he joined the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London as a Research Fellow. Although he was met with conservative opposition within the school, he remained on its faculty throughout his life. As well as being an academic, he was an energetic and committed radical political activist. He was chair of the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from 1968 to 1970. He was dedicated to criticising Western foreign policy and capitalist economics, paying particular attention to American policy. He was a founding editor of the Journal of Contemporary Asia, a journal concerned with revolutionary movements in Asia. In 1978 Caldwell was one of the Labour Party candidates in St Mary's ward in the local elections for the Bexley London Borough Council.