Abstract

BROWN, M. Anne. State Formation and Political Community in Timor-Leste - The Centrality of the Local. Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais [online]. 2014, n.104, pp.101-122. ISSN 2182-7435.  https://doi.org/10.4000/rccs.5717.

This article addresses the enmeshments of customary and liberal institutional values and practices in Timor-Leste. It argues that dominant approaches to thinking about political community and the State overlook the significance of community sources of political values, placing them outside serious exchange and failing to provide a way of thinking seriously about negotiating political life across radical difference. There is nevertheless an “ecology of relations” taking shape described neither by liberal nor customary frameworks. The nature of political community in Timor-Leste will be shaped by how these enmeshments play out and whether they are negotiated through unacknowledged shadow zones or more accessible forms of exchange. Exchange around arenas of interaction could give substance to nation-building and build participation and accountability. Villages are critical in this context.

Keywords : political dialogue; political life; post-colonialism; State-building; Timor-Leste.

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