A presente obra é resultado da XV Semana de Relações Internacionais, intensa jornada acadêmica re... more A presente obra é resultado da XV Semana de Relações Internacionais, intensa jornada acadêmica realizada em 2017 na Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) – campus de Marília – SP. Apresenta ideias, opiniões, argumentos e questionamentos de acadêmicos, diplomatas e pesquisadores que participaram do evento, por meio de artigos sobre diversos temas das Relações Internacionais. O evento teve como tema central a política externa e segurança no presente século, embora, em razão da amplitude dessa área do conhecimento, tenha contado com atividades que abordaram outros temas ligados às Relações Internacionais. Os trabalhos desta obra foram distribuídos em seis partes: Desafios dos Processos de Paz e Questões Humanitárias; Forças Armadas; Desafios dos Processos de Integração Regional; Diplomacia e Relações Internacionais; Governança e Imigrações; e Desenvolvimento. Os Desafios da Política Externa e Segurança no Século XXI refletem a amplitude das Relações Internacionais e a preocupação em tematizar, desenvolver e aprofundar o estudo dos diversos campos dessa área do conhecimento.
This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building ... more This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building in Timor-Leste. We deploy two sets of empirical data to analyse the role ambiguity plays in particular power dynamics: the East Timorese legislation on community authority, and ethnographic descriptions of a local form of conflict resolution at the village level. The ethnographic analysis points to the fact that local authorities see themselves and are seen by villagers as state representatives. However, the legal framework may be seen as an effort by the Timorese national authority to detach itself from local leaders, but it does so ambiguously. While the state positions local authorities as community representatives of the people it also assigns them an increasing number of functions over time, many of which would be elsewhere considered state responsibilities. We argue that this ambiguity plays a vital role in a long-term strategy to legitimise the state by appropriating local elements of political culture. That being so, local governance complexes are used to transpose and internalise modern practices and projects of social organisation and subjectivation, although they tend to be considered by many as longstanding cultural institutions. K E Y W O R D S development, law/human rights, local governance, politics, social change
Content:
Prefácio
Apresentação - A construção da administração pública timorense: elenco e ce... more Content:
Prefácio
Apresentação - A construção da administração pública timorense: elenco e cenário
Capítulo 1 - A reunião de Timor-Leste com os parceiros do desenvolvimento
Capítulo 2 - A feira do livro lusófono
Capítulo 3 - As nações unidas e a construção de capacidades
Capítulo 4 - As nações desunidas
Capítulo 5 - Díli em festa e festas em Díli
Capítulo 6 - Retornados e projetos disciplinares para a função pública
Capítulo 7 - Os de fora e os de dentro: novas fontes de conflito e ressentimento
Conclusão - Paradoxos da autodeterminação: algumas perspectivas
This article discusses the concept, design, and contracting processes of the first phase of the T... more This article discusses the concept, design, and contracting processes of the first phase of the TOMAK program (acronym for To'os Ba Moris Di'ak, translated as Farming for Prosperity in English, and Agricultura para Prosperidade in Portuguese). The program was funded by the Australian government and implemented in Timor-Leste between 2016 and 2021. We argue that these processes elevate the program to the status of a commodity, accessed in the global market by specific mechanisms of competition and subject to certain fetishes. The program's management practices reflect the new role that nation-states have played under the dominance of neoliberalism: as catalysts of competition on multiple fronts. We contextualize the phenomena discussed as products of long-term historical processes related to the reconfigurations of international development cooperation practices. Our analyses are based on documental and digital ethnographies and two decades (2000-2020) of observations in the field of international cooperation in Timor-Leste and beyond.
This article consists of a brief analysis of the events that occurred in Timor-Leste
during 2020.... more This article consists of a brief analysis of the events that occurred in Timor-Leste during 2020. It discusses the development and conclusion of the political crisis that had been dragging on since the formation of the VIII constitutional government, as well as some of the administrative challenges the state had to face. We place special emphasis on the socioeconomic impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the country and its inhabitants. In a year in which there has not been excessively noteworthy news about Timor- Leste’s international politics, human security in its different aspects has become the central aspect to consider.
Este artigo discute narrativas de caracterização
de bens culturais imateriais produzidas
e irradi... more Este artigo discute narrativas de caracterização de bens culturais imateriais produzidas e irradiadas pelo Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). Inspirados pela teoria do ator-rede, argumentamos que o objeto das políticas de registro e salvaguarda de bens imateriais são híbridos constituídos por associações heterogêneas de humanos e não-humanos. A justaposição entre diferentes domínios de ação e a agência de atores ontologicamente distintos na conformação dos bens culturais imateriais registrados como patrimônio nacional é positivada nas narrativas que os descrevem. Tais fenômenos, bem como a apreensão dos bens imateriais como produto de trajetórias históricas singulares e indicadores de tradições que sustentam identidades coletivas, são interpretados como índices de certo romantismo. Somente quando renomeado como tradição, produzido a partir de correlações complexas, o legado colonial figura como actuante na configuração dos bens reconhecidos e passa a ser assim objeto de salvaguarda. No limite, estas políticas elas se voltam à salvaguarda de formas de ação e interação sobre o mundo pré-modernas.
This essay examines the social position of women and the implications of gender
representations ... more This essay examines the social position of women and the implications of gender
representations among indigenous peoples in post-World War II Portuguese
Timor. It is a bibliographic critique based on works of academic anthropology
and of certain missionary and colonial administrative ethnographies published
between the 1950s and 1980s. I argue that in general women occupied a
relatively subaltern position in the collective dynamics of social reproduction.
This results from the specificity of local social structures and from the separation
of sex and gender. I attempt to elucidate an apparent contradiction: on the one
hand, femaleness, as a gender classifying principle, is associated with superiority
among many peoples in Timor-Leste and, on the other hand, women are often
in subaltern positions regarding collective reproduction. I argue that the ways the
female principle and the idea of fertility are ritually handled serve the purpose of
producing and reproducing male dominance in the dynamics of collective social
reproduction and the co-opting of women’s power of giving life.
This article addresses the current praxis and controversies framing marriage prestations in urban... more This article addresses the current praxis and controversies framing marriage prestations in urban East Timor. Drawing on data related to practices, narratives, and social location of agents who stand for and against barlake (the local name for a part or the whole of marriage prestations), it suggests how the association of marriage transactions with different regimes of exchange – namely, gift and commodity – is a means for producing prestige and social distinction between ema Dili and ema foho. The lack of consensus about a single meaning for barlake allows everyone to reproduce their commitments with local and global expectations of modernity. Such phenomena result from ascribing marriage prestations to the gift regime of exchange, regardless of the number or the kind of gift functions implied in them. The controversies surrounding barlake entail a moral narrative of modernity struc-tured by anxieties related to: (1) fixing ontological boundaries between people and things; (2) the alliance effects people search for when carrying out their marriage; (3) the social history and politics of custom associated with Dili as a place of civilized/assimilated people, and, finally; (4) people's historical period of migration to the city.
Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, vol. 18, número 51, Feb 2003
This paper discusses the events organized by Brazilian State to celebrate the so called “500 year... more This paper discusses the events organized by Brazilian State to celebrate the so called “500 years of Brazil’s discovery”, between 1998 and 2000. It seeks to identify the ideologies
found in these activities, which revealed the images of the nation. It shows that those activities were critical
events for the Brazilian nationbuilding process. Taking for analysis documents, discourses, exhibitions,
museums, and others, the paper suggests the rituals performed at those “celebrations” retake the Brazilian myth of the “three races” and a kind of lusotropicalist ideal, making
possible the reediting of the idea of a “racial democracy” by Brazilian State.
The article focus on the conflicts which took place in East Timor in 2005, between the Catholic C... more The article focus on the conflicts which took place in East Timor in 2005, between the Catholic Church and the Government, regarding the role of the religious teaching in the basic school curriculum. The analysis indicates that the debates built around this issue express different State-Nation building projects for that country, so as disputes among different groups in relation to their roles in the independency process. We propose that the events should be understood as a product of the itinerary of certain sectors of the Timorese people during the Indonesian occupation of the territory. We point, that way, to the singular position of the counter-diasporas, former members of the diplomatic front, to whom the Catholic Church (self proclaimed as representative of the "insiders") now opposes. The protests also pointed to a still incipient debate on the building of a national memory, the Catholic Church claiming for a correct acknowledge, by the State, of its own role against the Indonesian occupation.
The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the values that have been mobilized as a source... more The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the values that have been mobilized as a source of political legitimacy in East Timor since the restoration of independence. To do so, it uses as a principal analytical anchor the campaign activities held in the realm of the first round of presidential elections in the country in April 2007. They are placed in perspective through
a comparison with other moments of political conflict. By means of ethnographic observation of electoral phenomenon – rallies, radio and television programs and journalistic coverage – I seek to identify some of the moral and sociological principles on which modern political authority is claimed in the
country by the different groups of its elites. Among other things, I highlight the centrality of the veterans of the Falintil in this field. This fact, associated to the discussion of the public performances of the various candidates during the campaign, is seen as an indicator of the importance that ideas and values such as suffering, recognition and reciprocity occupy in the repertoire
of contemporary East Timorese political culture. I also present a hypothesis about the mechanisms through which the capilarization of modern institutions such as political parties and the Nation State, have taken place in the country: by means of alliances between the cosmopolitan urban elites and local
authorities, mediated by veterans of the resistance.
Key words: East Timor, political culture, elections, recognition, reciprocity
This article discusses certain technologies with which government practices
are diffused on a g... more This article discusses certain technologies with which government practices
are diffused on a global scale and some of the effects of this process. Using
Foucault as a main source of inspiration, the circulation of know-how and
capital are seen as the principal means by which government practices are
irradiated. By analyzing social techniques such as projects, programs, conditionalities, documents, international laws and others, I argue that these
are fundamental conduits for devising and reproducing the global order.
In a second moment, I approach some of the outcomes of developmental
practices in processes of state building and other political dynamics among
recipients and donor countries. I stress some of the political, economic and
social impacts of local appropriations of development actions. Of these, I emphasize those related to capacity building and what I call the misrecognition
effect. The final remarks propose an articulated perspective on government
practices that are shaped by diverse strategies.
The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 14:5, 455-470
In discussing marriage negotiations, this article analyses certain mediations and mediators that ... more In discussing marriage negotiations, this article analyses certain mediations and mediators that make up the dialectics of modernisation among contemporary urban middle-class elites in Timor-Leste. It brings to the fore the way particular Christian
values are strategically used to reproduce, change or even enhance people’s agency regarding customary practices, and to circumscribe the marriage exchanges to the gift
regime. Attitudes about fulfilling customary obligations vary, for they are correlated to the distinct government practices from which they derive. The social profile of brokers and the sources of their legitimacy to perform marriage negotiations are also discussed.
Finally, these negotiations are analysed against the backdrop of contemporary arguments about the syncretic or anti-syncretic character of some social experiences in Timor-Leste.
A presente obra é resultado da XV Semana de Relações Internacionais, intensa jornada acadêmica re... more A presente obra é resultado da XV Semana de Relações Internacionais, intensa jornada acadêmica realizada em 2017 na Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências da Universidade Estadual Paulista “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP) – campus de Marília – SP. Apresenta ideias, opiniões, argumentos e questionamentos de acadêmicos, diplomatas e pesquisadores que participaram do evento, por meio de artigos sobre diversos temas das Relações Internacionais. O evento teve como tema central a política externa e segurança no presente século, embora, em razão da amplitude dessa área do conhecimento, tenha contado com atividades que abordaram outros temas ligados às Relações Internacionais. Os trabalhos desta obra foram distribuídos em seis partes: Desafios dos Processos de Paz e Questões Humanitárias; Forças Armadas; Desafios dos Processos de Integração Regional; Diplomacia e Relações Internacionais; Governança e Imigrações; e Desenvolvimento. Os Desafios da Política Externa e Segurança no Século XXI refletem a amplitude das Relações Internacionais e a preocupação em tematizar, desenvolver e aprofundar o estudo dos diversos campos dessa área do conhecimento.
This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building ... more This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building in Timor-Leste. We deploy two sets of empirical data to analyse the role ambiguity plays in particular power dynamics: the East Timorese legislation on community authority, and ethnographic descriptions of a local form of conflict resolution at the village level. The ethnographic analysis points to the fact that local authorities see themselves and are seen by villagers as state representatives. However, the legal framework may be seen as an effort by the Timorese national authority to detach itself from local leaders, but it does so ambiguously. While the state positions local authorities as community representatives of the people it also assigns them an increasing number of functions over time, many of which would be elsewhere considered state responsibilities. We argue that this ambiguity plays a vital role in a long-term strategy to legitimise the state by appropriating local elements of political culture. That being so, local governance complexes are used to transpose and internalise modern practices and projects of social organisation and subjectivation, although they tend to be considered by many as longstanding cultural institutions. K E Y W O R D S development, law/human rights, local governance, politics, social change
Content:
Prefácio
Apresentação - A construção da administração pública timorense: elenco e ce... more Content:
Prefácio
Apresentação - A construção da administração pública timorense: elenco e cenário
Capítulo 1 - A reunião de Timor-Leste com os parceiros do desenvolvimento
Capítulo 2 - A feira do livro lusófono
Capítulo 3 - As nações unidas e a construção de capacidades
Capítulo 4 - As nações desunidas
Capítulo 5 - Díli em festa e festas em Díli
Capítulo 6 - Retornados e projetos disciplinares para a função pública
Capítulo 7 - Os de fora e os de dentro: novas fontes de conflito e ressentimento
Conclusão - Paradoxos da autodeterminação: algumas perspectivas
This article discusses the concept, design, and contracting processes of the first phase of the T... more This article discusses the concept, design, and contracting processes of the first phase of the TOMAK program (acronym for To'os Ba Moris Di'ak, translated as Farming for Prosperity in English, and Agricultura para Prosperidade in Portuguese). The program was funded by the Australian government and implemented in Timor-Leste between 2016 and 2021. We argue that these processes elevate the program to the status of a commodity, accessed in the global market by specific mechanisms of competition and subject to certain fetishes. The program's management practices reflect the new role that nation-states have played under the dominance of neoliberalism: as catalysts of competition on multiple fronts. We contextualize the phenomena discussed as products of long-term historical processes related to the reconfigurations of international development cooperation practices. Our analyses are based on documental and digital ethnographies and two decades (2000-2020) of observations in the field of international cooperation in Timor-Leste and beyond.
This article consists of a brief analysis of the events that occurred in Timor-Leste
during 2020.... more This article consists of a brief analysis of the events that occurred in Timor-Leste during 2020. It discusses the development and conclusion of the political crisis that had been dragging on since the formation of the VIII constitutional government, as well as some of the administrative challenges the state had to face. We place special emphasis on the socioeconomic impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the country and its inhabitants. In a year in which there has not been excessively noteworthy news about Timor- Leste’s international politics, human security in its different aspects has become the central aspect to consider.
Este artigo discute narrativas de caracterização
de bens culturais imateriais produzidas
e irradi... more Este artigo discute narrativas de caracterização de bens culturais imateriais produzidas e irradiadas pelo Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). Inspirados pela teoria do ator-rede, argumentamos que o objeto das políticas de registro e salvaguarda de bens imateriais são híbridos constituídos por associações heterogêneas de humanos e não-humanos. A justaposição entre diferentes domínios de ação e a agência de atores ontologicamente distintos na conformação dos bens culturais imateriais registrados como patrimônio nacional é positivada nas narrativas que os descrevem. Tais fenômenos, bem como a apreensão dos bens imateriais como produto de trajetórias históricas singulares e indicadores de tradições que sustentam identidades coletivas, são interpretados como índices de certo romantismo. Somente quando renomeado como tradição, produzido a partir de correlações complexas, o legado colonial figura como actuante na configuração dos bens reconhecidos e passa a ser assim objeto de salvaguarda. No limite, estas políticas elas se voltam à salvaguarda de formas de ação e interação sobre o mundo pré-modernas.
This essay examines the social position of women and the implications of gender
representations ... more This essay examines the social position of women and the implications of gender
representations among indigenous peoples in post-World War II Portuguese
Timor. It is a bibliographic critique based on works of academic anthropology
and of certain missionary and colonial administrative ethnographies published
between the 1950s and 1980s. I argue that in general women occupied a
relatively subaltern position in the collective dynamics of social reproduction.
This results from the specificity of local social structures and from the separation
of sex and gender. I attempt to elucidate an apparent contradiction: on the one
hand, femaleness, as a gender classifying principle, is associated with superiority
among many peoples in Timor-Leste and, on the other hand, women are often
in subaltern positions regarding collective reproduction. I argue that the ways the
female principle and the idea of fertility are ritually handled serve the purpose of
producing and reproducing male dominance in the dynamics of collective social
reproduction and the co-opting of women’s power of giving life.
This article addresses the current praxis and controversies framing marriage prestations in urban... more This article addresses the current praxis and controversies framing marriage prestations in urban East Timor. Drawing on data related to practices, narratives, and social location of agents who stand for and against barlake (the local name for a part or the whole of marriage prestations), it suggests how the association of marriage transactions with different regimes of exchange – namely, gift and commodity – is a means for producing prestige and social distinction between ema Dili and ema foho. The lack of consensus about a single meaning for barlake allows everyone to reproduce their commitments with local and global expectations of modernity. Such phenomena result from ascribing marriage prestations to the gift regime of exchange, regardless of the number or the kind of gift functions implied in them. The controversies surrounding barlake entail a moral narrative of modernity struc-tured by anxieties related to: (1) fixing ontological boundaries between people and things; (2) the alliance effects people search for when carrying out their marriage; (3) the social history and politics of custom associated with Dili as a place of civilized/assimilated people, and, finally; (4) people's historical period of migration to the city.
Revista Brasileira de Ciências Sociais, vol. 18, número 51, Feb 2003
This paper discusses the events organized by Brazilian State to celebrate the so called “500 year... more This paper discusses the events organized by Brazilian State to celebrate the so called “500 years of Brazil’s discovery”, between 1998 and 2000. It seeks to identify the ideologies
found in these activities, which revealed the images of the nation. It shows that those activities were critical
events for the Brazilian nationbuilding process. Taking for analysis documents, discourses, exhibitions,
museums, and others, the paper suggests the rituals performed at those “celebrations” retake the Brazilian myth of the “three races” and a kind of lusotropicalist ideal, making
possible the reediting of the idea of a “racial democracy” by Brazilian State.
The article focus on the conflicts which took place in East Timor in 2005, between the Catholic C... more The article focus on the conflicts which took place in East Timor in 2005, between the Catholic Church and the Government, regarding the role of the religious teaching in the basic school curriculum. The analysis indicates that the debates built around this issue express different State-Nation building projects for that country, so as disputes among different groups in relation to their roles in the independency process. We propose that the events should be understood as a product of the itinerary of certain sectors of the Timorese people during the Indonesian occupation of the territory. We point, that way, to the singular position of the counter-diasporas, former members of the diplomatic front, to whom the Catholic Church (self proclaimed as representative of the "insiders") now opposes. The protests also pointed to a still incipient debate on the building of a national memory, the Catholic Church claiming for a correct acknowledge, by the State, of its own role against the Indonesian occupation.
The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the values that have been mobilized as a source... more The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the values that have been mobilized as a source of political legitimacy in East Timor since the restoration of independence. To do so, it uses as a principal analytical anchor the campaign activities held in the realm of the first round of presidential elections in the country in April 2007. They are placed in perspective through
a comparison with other moments of political conflict. By means of ethnographic observation of electoral phenomenon – rallies, radio and television programs and journalistic coverage – I seek to identify some of the moral and sociological principles on which modern political authority is claimed in the
country by the different groups of its elites. Among other things, I highlight the centrality of the veterans of the Falintil in this field. This fact, associated to the discussion of the public performances of the various candidates during the campaign, is seen as an indicator of the importance that ideas and values such as suffering, recognition and reciprocity occupy in the repertoire
of contemporary East Timorese political culture. I also present a hypothesis about the mechanisms through which the capilarization of modern institutions such as political parties and the Nation State, have taken place in the country: by means of alliances between the cosmopolitan urban elites and local
authorities, mediated by veterans of the resistance.
Key words: East Timor, political culture, elections, recognition, reciprocity
This article discusses certain technologies with which government practices
are diffused on a g... more This article discusses certain technologies with which government practices
are diffused on a global scale and some of the effects of this process. Using
Foucault as a main source of inspiration, the circulation of know-how and
capital are seen as the principal means by which government practices are
irradiated. By analyzing social techniques such as projects, programs, conditionalities, documents, international laws and others, I argue that these
are fundamental conduits for devising and reproducing the global order.
In a second moment, I approach some of the outcomes of developmental
practices in processes of state building and other political dynamics among
recipients and donor countries. I stress some of the political, economic and
social impacts of local appropriations of development actions. Of these, I emphasize those related to capacity building and what I call the misrecognition
effect. The final remarks propose an articulated perspective on government
practices that are shaped by diverse strategies.
The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 14:5, 455-470
In discussing marriage negotiations, this article analyses certain mediations and mediators that ... more In discussing marriage negotiations, this article analyses certain mediations and mediators that make up the dialectics of modernisation among contemporary urban middle-class elites in Timor-Leste. It brings to the fore the way particular Christian
values are strategically used to reproduce, change or even enhance people’s agency regarding customary practices, and to circumscribe the marriage exchanges to the gift
regime. Attitudes about fulfilling customary obligations vary, for they are correlated to the distinct government practices from which they derive. The social profile of brokers and the sources of their legitimacy to perform marriage negotiations are also discussed.
Finally, these negotiations are analysed against the backdrop of contemporary arguments about the syncretic or anti-syncretic character of some social experiences in Timor-Leste.
Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais, 104. Pp. 123-150, Sep 2014
Este artigo discute certos modos pelos quais o Estado leste‑timorense tem lidado com elementos d... more Este artigo discute certos modos pelos quais o Estado leste‑timorense tem lidado com elementos dos complexos locais de governança, chamados kultura desde o ponto de vista local. A partir da análise de usos recentes do tara bandu e das dinâmicas de estruturação
do poder local, argumento que o reconhecimento e a incorporação de dimensões dos complexos locais de governança têm se dado de modo a transformá‑las em vias para geração de efeitos de pacificação, integração e monopolização do poder. Ao mesmo
tempo, os usos da kultura servem à transposição e internalização de práticas e projetos modernos de organização social e subjetivação. Exploro as críticas à partidarização das eleições locais como um ato de resistência e agência de setores das populações rurais
aos projetos de apropriação política de aspetos de suas dinâmicas de reprodução social pelas elites nacionais baseadas em Díli.
The article proposes that some of the key practices in the area of international cooperation for ... more The article proposes that some of the key practices in the area of international cooperation for development can be better understood in terms of a gift regime. To this end, it compares ethnographic data relating to the modus operandi of the aid sector in East Timor with the legacy of Marcel Mauss and the recent production of M.A.U.S.S.. International aid policies are shown to be important means for establishing hegemony in negotiation spaces in which different actors construct identities and relations of alliance, honour and precedence. In this debate, it is argued that East Timors biggest countergift to the international community has been to function as an instrument through which values cherished by aid donors, expressed in Western myths of good society, can once again be cultivated in the process of building a new nation state.
Performing modernities. Pedagogies and technologies in the making of contemporary Timor-Leste, 2020
This chapter considers strategies for commercializing artifacts aimed at empowering vulnerable po... more This chapter considers strategies for commercializing artifacts aimed at empowering vulnerable populations in Timor-Leste by analyzing the narratives accompanying such practices. We discuss the form and content of shops, product-information folders and labels in order to understand the moralities, meanings and effects that are attributed to buying and selling in particular contexts. We argue that these marketing strategies can potentially turn acts of buying into explicit 'total social facts' (Mauss 2003), by articulating the effects of justice, power, identification, and so on. Moreover, we suggest that narratives introducing artifacts are apparatuses for ascribing their purchase in at least two simultaneous exchange regimes: one based on the market, the other on the gift. The chapter describes the mediations through which such effects are produced.
Routledge handbook of contemporary Timor-Leste, edited by Andrew McWilliam and Michael Leach, 2019
This chapter addresses the ways in which customary marriage practices have been carried out and a... more This chapter addresses the ways in which customary marriage practices have been carried out and anxieties projected onto them in urban scenarios of postcolonial Timor-Leste. Based on extensive fieldwork, I argue that the negotiation of marriage practices is frained to meet peoples commitments to local and global institutions and their quest to be perceived as modern folk. To this end, a fundamental claim and strategy is to transform the material exchanges entailed in customary marriage practices into symbols as a specific type of sign (Pierce 1999).
CROSSING HISTORIES AND ETHNOGRAPHIES Following Colonial Historicities in Timor-Leste, edited by Ricardo Roque & Elizabeth Traube, 2019
This chapter addresses a colonial controversy about marriage exchange in 1970s Dili. Retrospectiv... more This chapter addresses a colonial controversy about marriage exchange in 1970s Dili. Retrospectively called after the Portuguese expression guerra do barlaque (barlake war), this controversy came to be considered, by at least one of the actors involved, a foundational event of East Timorese nationalism (Araújo 2012) because it brought to the fore opposing positions about local social life. Not by chance, from the debate marriage exchanges emerged as the most iconic institution of local societies, and its meanings and effects were considered condensed manifestations of the character of the East Timorese people.
The Promise of Prosperity Visions of the Future in Timor-Leste, 2018
This chapter explores the relationship between kultura and Catholicism,
addressing discourses and... more This chapter explores the relationship between kultura and Catholicism, addressing discourses and political projects that respond to the revival of kultura in Timor-Leste, and examining the perception of some East Timorese priests that Catholicism is being weakened by this revival.2 From the priests’ perspectives, the relations between kultura and Christianity are associated with conversion to Christianity. They expect that conversion to Christianity implies discontinuity − a break with practices and beliefs in local spiritual agents (cf. Keane 2007). I examine how my interlocutors try to explain the continuity of Timorese people’s commitments to these institutions and their agents. In other words, how they try to make sense of the way in which adherence to Christianity is not effecting (nor, for some, should it effect) discontinuity or rupture. Furthermore, I explore how Catholic clergy attribute the revival of kultura to what they see as a superficial, formalist, passive and low-quality adherence to Catholicism by some Timorese people. Given this fact, some of my interlocutors present projects for purification and monopolisation of faith (Latour 1994) to confront the ‘spiritual ecologies’ (Palmer 2015), which characterise the mystic practices of most people. Nevertheless, not all clergy in Timor Leste agree with these attempts to rid Catholicism of the remnants of customary practices; there is no overall consensus on the appropriate relationship between kultura and Catholicism. There are ranks within the Church that defend the coexistence between kultura and Christianity, arguing in favour of the need for inculturation. I identify among my interlocutors three distinct projects that shape the relationship between kultura and Christianity and motivate interactions of clergy with their parishioners: the first, a project for a tactical use of kultura as a transitory means for the introduction and strengthening of Christianity; the second, a project that supports an enduring coexistence and mutual reinforcement of kultura and of Christianity, with some selectivity; and the third, a project that seeks the extinction of kultura, because of its supposed incompatibility with Christianity.
In: Viegas, Susana & Feijó, Rui (ed). Transformations in Independent Timor-Leste: Dynamics of Social and Cultural Cohabitations. Hong Kong: Routledge., 2017
Júlio Aurélio Vianna Lopes ; Paulo Henrique Martins, Alda Lacerda (org) . Dádiva, cultura e sociedade
Based on ethnographic observations from more than ten years of research in East Timor, we explore... more Based on ethnographic observations from more than ten years of research in East Timor, we explore the idea that being in debt is an important part of the constitution of person amongst Timorese people, as opposed to the category of slave - those who are not in a condition to be in debt to others. Focusing on debts established primarily, but not exclusively, through marriage exchanges, we argue that the value of personhood is strongly linked to an expanded network of relations. More than the notion of "person", the very notion of "relationship" is established through debts. In this sense, we propose the dissolution of the dichotomy between exchange and debts, analyzing debts as an important part of exchange regimes in East Timor.
Introdução do livro Ita maun alin… o livro do irmão mais novo : afinidades antropológicas em torn... more Introdução do livro Ita maun alin… o livro do irmão mais novo : afinidades antropológicas em torno de Timor-Leste.
Ita maun alin… o livro do irmão mais novo : afinidades antropológicas em torno de Timor-Leste / org. Kelly Silva, Lúcio Sousa. Lisboa, Colibri. p.21-28 Apoios: IELT /CEMRI
En este artículo presentamos un somero resumen sobre los acontecimientos ocurridos en Timor-Leste... more En este artículo presentamos un somero resumen sobre los acontecimientos ocurridos en Timor-Leste durante el año 2020. Analizamos el desarrollo y conclusión de la crisis de gobierno que venía arrastrándose desde la formación del VIII Gobierno constitucional, así como algunos de los desafíos de gestión a los que éste ha tenido que enfrentarse. Hacemos especial hincapié en los impactos socioeconómicos que la pandemia de la covid-19 ha tenido sobre el país y sus habitantes. En un año en el que no ha habido noticias excesivamente reseñables en materia de política internacional acerca de Timor-Leste, la seguridad humana en sus diferentes aspectos se ha convertido en el aspecto central a considerar.
This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building ... more This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building in Timor-Leste. We deploy two sets of empirical data to analyse the role ambiguity plays in particular power dynamics: the East Timorese legislation on community authority, and ethnographic descriptions of a local form of conflict resolution at the village level. The ethnographic analysis points to the fact that local authorities see themselves and are seen by villagers as state representatives. However, the legal framework may be seen as an effort by the Timorese national authority to detach itself from local leaders, but it does so ambiguously. While the state positions local authorities as community representatives of the people it also assigns them an increasing number of functions over time, many of which would be elsewhere considered state responsibilities. We argue that this ambiguity plays a vital role in a long-term strategy to legitimise the state by appropriating local elements of political culture. That being so, local governance complexes are used to transpose and internalise modern practices and projects of social organisation and subjectivation, although they tend to be considered by many as longstanding cultural institutions. K E Y W O R D S development, law/human rights, local governance, politics, social change
The purpose of this essay is twofold. First, we explore the extent to which certain practices in ... more The purpose of this essay is twofold. First, we explore the extent to which certain practices in urban East Timor perceived as traditional may be associated to different ways of negotiating individual and collective identities while uncovering dilemmas of nation building and state formation. To this effect, we take into account specific variations of current practices in marriage negotiations in Dili, considering their structural role in forging local sociality. Based on repeated field trips, we contend that different discourses about "tradition" can be related to different ways in which one is positioned vis-à-vis the multiple symbolic elements available in current East-Timorese public spaces. As these different meanings of "tradition" also challenge public policies, their application may uncover different ideas about what a nation ought to be. Second, we ponder on the extent to which our specific focus is due to our background as Brazilian anthropologists, buil...
Este trabalho discute, a partir de uma perspectiva etnográfica, tendências e tensões característi... more Este trabalho discute, a partir de uma perspectiva etnográfica, tendências e tensões características da sociabilidade de estudantes africanos - vindos de países de língua oficial portuguesa - na Universidade de Brasília (UnB) e na Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Abordamos os modos pelos quais eles experimentam as práticas linguísticas e pedagógicas das universidades, vivenciam as tensões raciais existentes no Brasil, atribuem sentido aos espaços urbanos nos quais são acolhidos; e analisamos seus padrões mais comuns de interação e agregação. Sugerimos que o tempo de participação no fluxo migratório, a nacionalidade de origem dos estudantes e a cidade de acolhida no Brasil são variáveis que condicionam de forma importante a sociabilidade dos estudantes. Residualmente, e de forma ainda incipiente, exploramos algumas dinâmicas de identificação entre os alunos. Alguns se apresentam como sujeitos em diáspora. Outros, contudo, chamam atenção para a necessidade de continuarem a ser reconhe...
This article discusses certain technologies with which government practices are diffused on a glo... more This article discusses certain technologies with which government practices are diffused on a global scale and some of the effects of this process. Using Foucault as a main source of inspiration, the circulation of know-how and capital are seen as the principal means by which government practices are irradiated. By analyzing social techniques such as projects, programs, conditionalities, documents, international laws and others, I argue that these are fundamental conduits for devising and reproducing the global order. In a second moment, I approach some of the outcomes of developmental practices in processes of state building and other political dynamics among recipients and donor countries. I stress some of the political, economic and social impacts of local appropriations of development actions. Of these, I emphasize those related to capacity building and what I call the misrecognition effect. The final remarks propose an articulated perspective on government practices that are sh...
En este artículo presentamos un somero resumen sobre los acontecimientos ocurridos en Timor-Leste... more En este artículo presentamos un somero resumen sobre los acontecimientos ocurridos en Timor-Leste durante el año 2020. Analizamos el desarrollo y conclusión de la crisis de gobierno que venía arrastrándose desde la formación del VIII Gobierno constitucional, así como algunos de los desafíos de gestión a los que éste ha tenido que enfrentarse. Hacemos especial hincapié en los impactos socioeconómicos que la pandemia de la covid-19 ha tenido sobre el país y sus habitantes. En un año en el que no ha habido noticias excesivamente reseñables en materia de política internacional acerca de Timor- Leste, la seguridad humana en sus diferentes aspectos se ha convertido en el aspecto central a considerar.
This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building ... more This article discusses the ambivalent status of local authorities in postcolonial state building in Timor-Leste. We deploy two sets of empirical data to analyse the role ambiguity plays in particular power dynamics: the East Timorese legislation on community authority, and ethnographic descriptions of a local form of conflict resolution at the village level. The ethnographic analysis points to the fact that local authorities see themselves and are seen by villagers as state representatives. However, the legal framework may be seen as an effort by the Timorese national authority to detach itself from local leaders, but it does so ambiguously. While the state positions local authorities as community representatives of the people it also assigns them an increasing number of functions over time, many of which would be elsewhere considered state responsibilities. We argue that this ambiguity plays a vital role in a long-term strategy to legitimise the state by appropriating local elements of political culture. That being so, local governance complexes are used to transpose and internalise modern practices and projects of social organisation and subjectivation, although they tend to be considered by many as longstanding cultural institutions. K E Y W O R D S development, law/human rights, local governance, politics, social change
This paper addresses current attempts to manage ritual practices by the national state and the Ca... more This paper addresses current attempts to manage ritual practices by the national state and the Catholic Church in East Timor. Based on the analysis of official propaganda, interviews and other documents, it points out how certain rationale about what is deemed the correct disposal of material resources has come to be a matter of government concern. One proposes to consider such government endeavors as purification efforts as Bruno Latour has depicted it. In addition, by discussing the arguments framing the government practices towards local practices of reproduction, one highlights how the later are perceived in opposition to the development as utopia and ideology. However, from the point of view of ordinary people no development – whatever it comes to be – can be reached without honor ritual obligations.
The connection between art, agency and power effects in East Timor is an epistemological equation... more The connection between art, agency and power effects in East Timor is an epistemological equation that entails interdisciplinary approaches. Departing from
an anthropological perspective, this introduction seeks to map potential methodological and theoretical questions for discussing such equation. One also outlines
registers and historical and contemporary genealogies of artistic practices in order to suggest clues and challenges to be pursued by further studies in the area. The analysis of the articles which this dossier is made up of allows to discuss the developmentof political appropriation of art by various actors, revealing the emergence of new orientalisms and mediation processes, both local and international, in the making of art worlds in East Timor.
The diverse moral regimes related to the payment/transfer/offering of marriage prestations among ... more The diverse moral regimes related to the payment/transfer/offering of marriage prestations among Timorese elites based in the capital of Dili are explored along with the controversies surrounding them. These marriage exchanges are devices for social differentiation and the distinct configurations of marriage prestations reflect the way Dili inhabitants conflate attempts to make themselves modern people with commitments to indigenous institutions. Such phenomena are considered the products of long standing collective and individual negotiations which combine principles of sociality common amongst Timorese and others in Eastern Indonesia and the colonial and post-colonial State.
The diverse moral regimes related to the payment/transfer/offering of marriage prestations among ... more The diverse moral regimes related to the payment/transfer/offering of marriage prestations among Timorese elites based in the capital of Dili are explored along with the controversies surrounding them. These marriage exchanges are devices for social differentiation and the distinct configurations of marriage prestations reflect the way Dili inhabitants conflate attempts to make themselves modern people with commitments to indigenous institutions. Such phenomena are considered the products of long standing collective and individual negotiations which combine principles of sociality common amongst Timorese and others in Eastern Indonesia and the colonial and post-colonial State.
Special Issue Arte, agência e efeitos de poder em Timor-Leste /
Art, agency and power effects in ... more Special Issue Arte, agência e efeitos de poder em Timor-Leste / Art, agency and power effects in East Timor.
Cadernos de Arte e Antropologia , Vol. 4, No 1 | 2015
The purpose of this essay is twofold. First, we explore the extent to which certain practices in ... more The purpose of this essay is twofold. First, we explore the extent to which certain practices in urban East Timor perceived as traditional may be associated to different ways of negotiating individual and collective identities while uncovering dilemmas of nation building and state formation. To this effect, we take into account specific variations of current practices in marriage negotiations in Dili, considering their structural role in forging local sociality. Based on repeated field trips, we contend that different discourses about "tradition" can be related to different ways in which one is positioned vis-à-vis the multiple symbolic elements available in current East-Timorese public spaces. As these different meanings of "tradition" also challenge public policies, their application may uncover different ideas about what a nation ought to be. Second, we ponder on the extent to which our specific focus is due to our background as Brazilian anthropologists, built around our dialogue with certain anthropological lines of analysis in Brazil, particularly those related to interethnic friction and the place of indigenous peoples in the national imagination, as well as those dedicated to such themes as cultural diversity, citizenship, and public policies in urban Brazil.
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O evento teve como tema central a política externa e segurança no presente século, embora, em razão da amplitude dessa área do conhecimento, tenha contado com atividades que abordaram outros temas ligados às Relações Internacionais.
Os trabalhos desta obra foram distribuídos em seis partes: Desafios dos Processos de Paz e Questões Humanitárias; Forças Armadas; Desafios dos Processos de Integração Regional; Diplomacia e Relações Internacionais; Governança e Imigrações; e Desenvolvimento.
Os Desafios da Política Externa e Segurança no Século XXI refletem a amplitude das Relações Internacionais e a preocupação em tematizar, desenvolver e aprofundar o estudo dos diversos campos dessa área do conhecimento.
Prefácio
Apresentação - A construção da administração pública timorense: elenco e cenário
Capítulo 1 - A reunião de Timor-Leste com os parceiros do desenvolvimento
Capítulo 2 - A feira do livro lusófono
Capítulo 3 - As nações unidas e a construção de capacidades
Capítulo 4 - As nações desunidas
Capítulo 5 - Díli em festa e festas em Díli
Capítulo 6 - Retornados e projetos disciplinares para a função pública
Capítulo 7 - Os de fora e os de dentro: novas fontes de conflito e ressentimento
Conclusão - Paradoxos da autodeterminação: algumas perspectivas
Peer Reviewed Articles
during 2020. It discusses the development and conclusion of the political crisis that had been
dragging on since the formation of the VIII constitutional government, as well as some of the
administrative challenges the state had to face. We place special emphasis on the socioeconomic
impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the country and its inhabitants. In
a year in which there has not been excessively noteworthy news about Timor- Leste’s
international politics, human security in its different aspects has become the central aspect to
consider.
de bens culturais imateriais produzidas
e irradiadas pelo Instituto do Patrimônio
Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). Inspirados
pela teoria do ator-rede, argumentamos
que o objeto das políticas de registro e
salvaguarda de bens imateriais são híbridos
constituídos por associações heterogêneas
de humanos e não-humanos. A justaposição
entre diferentes domínios de ação e a agência
de atores ontologicamente distintos na
conformação dos bens culturais imateriais
registrados como patrimônio nacional é positivada
nas narrativas que os descrevem. Tais
fenômenos, bem como a apreensão dos bens
imateriais como produto de trajetórias históricas
singulares e indicadores de tradições
que sustentam identidades coletivas, são interpretados
como índices de certo romantismo.
Somente quando renomeado como
tradição, produzido a partir de correlações
complexas, o legado colonial figura como actuante
na configuração dos bens reconhecidos
e passa a ser assim objeto de salvaguarda.
No limite, estas políticas elas se voltam à
salvaguarda de formas de ação e interação
sobre o mundo pré-modernas.
representations among indigenous peoples in post-World War II Portuguese
Timor. It is a bibliographic critique based on works of academic anthropology
and of certain missionary and colonial administrative ethnographies published
between the 1950s and 1980s. I argue that in general women occupied a
relatively subaltern position in the collective dynamics of social reproduction.
This results from the specificity of local social structures and from the separation
of sex and gender. I attempt to elucidate an apparent contradiction: on the one
hand, femaleness, as a gender classifying principle, is associated with superiority
among many peoples in Timor-Leste and, on the other hand, women are often
in subaltern positions regarding collective reproduction. I argue that the ways the
female principle and the idea of fertility are ritually handled serve the purpose of
producing and reproducing male dominance in the dynamics of collective social
reproduction and the co-opting of women’s power of giving life.
found in these activities, which revealed the images of the nation. It shows that those activities were critical
events for the Brazilian nationbuilding process. Taking for analysis documents, discourses, exhibitions,
museums, and others, the paper suggests the rituals performed at those “celebrations” retake the Brazilian myth of the “three races” and a kind of lusotropicalist ideal, making
possible the reediting of the idea of a “racial democracy” by Brazilian State.
a comparison with other moments of political conflict. By means of ethnographic observation of electoral phenomenon – rallies, radio and television programs and journalistic coverage – I seek to identify some of the moral and sociological principles on which modern political authority is claimed in the
country by the different groups of its elites. Among other things, I highlight the centrality of the veterans of the Falintil in this field. This fact, associated to the discussion of the public performances of the various candidates during the campaign, is seen as an indicator of the importance that ideas and values such as suffering, recognition and reciprocity occupy in the repertoire
of contemporary East Timorese political culture. I also present a hypothesis about the mechanisms through which the capilarization of modern institutions such as political parties and the Nation State, have taken place in the country: by means of alliances between the cosmopolitan urban elites and local
authorities, mediated by veterans of the resistance.
Key words: East Timor, political culture, elections, recognition, reciprocity
are diffused on a global scale and some of the effects of this process. Using
Foucault as a main source of inspiration, the circulation of know-how and
capital are seen as the principal means by which government practices are
irradiated. By analyzing social techniques such as projects, programs, conditionalities, documents, international laws and others, I argue that these
are fundamental conduits for devising and reproducing the global order.
In a second moment, I approach some of the outcomes of developmental
practices in processes of state building and other political dynamics among
recipients and donor countries. I stress some of the political, economic and
social impacts of local appropriations of development actions. Of these, I emphasize those related to capacity building and what I call the misrecognition
effect. The final remarks propose an articulated perspective on government
practices that are shaped by diverse strategies.
values are strategically used to reproduce, change or even enhance people’s agency regarding customary practices, and to circumscribe the marriage exchanges to the gift
regime. Attitudes about fulfilling customary obligations vary, for they are correlated to the distinct government practices from which they derive. The social profile of brokers and the sources of their legitimacy to perform marriage negotiations are also discussed.
Finally, these negotiations are analysed against the backdrop of contemporary arguments about the syncretic or anti-syncretic character of some social experiences in Timor-Leste.
O evento teve como tema central a política externa e segurança no presente século, embora, em razão da amplitude dessa área do conhecimento, tenha contado com atividades que abordaram outros temas ligados às Relações Internacionais.
Os trabalhos desta obra foram distribuídos em seis partes: Desafios dos Processos de Paz e Questões Humanitárias; Forças Armadas; Desafios dos Processos de Integração Regional; Diplomacia e Relações Internacionais; Governança e Imigrações; e Desenvolvimento.
Os Desafios da Política Externa e Segurança no Século XXI refletem a amplitude das Relações Internacionais e a preocupação em tematizar, desenvolver e aprofundar o estudo dos diversos campos dessa área do conhecimento.
Prefácio
Apresentação - A construção da administração pública timorense: elenco e cenário
Capítulo 1 - A reunião de Timor-Leste com os parceiros do desenvolvimento
Capítulo 2 - A feira do livro lusófono
Capítulo 3 - As nações unidas e a construção de capacidades
Capítulo 4 - As nações desunidas
Capítulo 5 - Díli em festa e festas em Díli
Capítulo 6 - Retornados e projetos disciplinares para a função pública
Capítulo 7 - Os de fora e os de dentro: novas fontes de conflito e ressentimento
Conclusão - Paradoxos da autodeterminação: algumas perspectivas
during 2020. It discusses the development and conclusion of the political crisis that had been
dragging on since the formation of the VIII constitutional government, as well as some of the
administrative challenges the state had to face. We place special emphasis on the socioeconomic
impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic has had on the country and its inhabitants. In
a year in which there has not been excessively noteworthy news about Timor- Leste’s
international politics, human security in its different aspects has become the central aspect to
consider.
de bens culturais imateriais produzidas
e irradiadas pelo Instituto do Patrimônio
Histórico e Artístico Nacional (IPHAN). Inspirados
pela teoria do ator-rede, argumentamos
que o objeto das políticas de registro e
salvaguarda de bens imateriais são híbridos
constituídos por associações heterogêneas
de humanos e não-humanos. A justaposição
entre diferentes domínios de ação e a agência
de atores ontologicamente distintos na
conformação dos bens culturais imateriais
registrados como patrimônio nacional é positivada
nas narrativas que os descrevem. Tais
fenômenos, bem como a apreensão dos bens
imateriais como produto de trajetórias históricas
singulares e indicadores de tradições
que sustentam identidades coletivas, são interpretados
como índices de certo romantismo.
Somente quando renomeado como
tradição, produzido a partir de correlações
complexas, o legado colonial figura como actuante
na configuração dos bens reconhecidos
e passa a ser assim objeto de salvaguarda.
No limite, estas políticas elas se voltam à
salvaguarda de formas de ação e interação
sobre o mundo pré-modernas.
representations among indigenous peoples in post-World War II Portuguese
Timor. It is a bibliographic critique based on works of academic anthropology
and of certain missionary and colonial administrative ethnographies published
between the 1950s and 1980s. I argue that in general women occupied a
relatively subaltern position in the collective dynamics of social reproduction.
This results from the specificity of local social structures and from the separation
of sex and gender. I attempt to elucidate an apparent contradiction: on the one
hand, femaleness, as a gender classifying principle, is associated with superiority
among many peoples in Timor-Leste and, on the other hand, women are often
in subaltern positions regarding collective reproduction. I argue that the ways the
female principle and the idea of fertility are ritually handled serve the purpose of
producing and reproducing male dominance in the dynamics of collective social
reproduction and the co-opting of women’s power of giving life.
found in these activities, which revealed the images of the nation. It shows that those activities were critical
events for the Brazilian nationbuilding process. Taking for analysis documents, discourses, exhibitions,
museums, and others, the paper suggests the rituals performed at those “celebrations” retake the Brazilian myth of the “three races” and a kind of lusotropicalist ideal, making
possible the reediting of the idea of a “racial democracy” by Brazilian State.
a comparison with other moments of political conflict. By means of ethnographic observation of electoral phenomenon – rallies, radio and television programs and journalistic coverage – I seek to identify some of the moral and sociological principles on which modern political authority is claimed in the
country by the different groups of its elites. Among other things, I highlight the centrality of the veterans of the Falintil in this field. This fact, associated to the discussion of the public performances of the various candidates during the campaign, is seen as an indicator of the importance that ideas and values such as suffering, recognition and reciprocity occupy in the repertoire
of contemporary East Timorese political culture. I also present a hypothesis about the mechanisms through which the capilarization of modern institutions such as political parties and the Nation State, have taken place in the country: by means of alliances between the cosmopolitan urban elites and local
authorities, mediated by veterans of the resistance.
Key words: East Timor, political culture, elections, recognition, reciprocity
are diffused on a global scale and some of the effects of this process. Using
Foucault as a main source of inspiration, the circulation of know-how and
capital are seen as the principal means by which government practices are
irradiated. By analyzing social techniques such as projects, programs, conditionalities, documents, international laws and others, I argue that these
are fundamental conduits for devising and reproducing the global order.
In a second moment, I approach some of the outcomes of developmental
practices in processes of state building and other political dynamics among
recipients and donor countries. I stress some of the political, economic and
social impacts of local appropriations of development actions. Of these, I emphasize those related to capacity building and what I call the misrecognition
effect. The final remarks propose an articulated perspective on government
practices that are shaped by diverse strategies.
values are strategically used to reproduce, change or even enhance people’s agency regarding customary practices, and to circumscribe the marriage exchanges to the gift
regime. Attitudes about fulfilling customary obligations vary, for they are correlated to the distinct government practices from which they derive. The social profile of brokers and the sources of their legitimacy to perform marriage negotiations are also discussed.
Finally, these negotiations are analysed against the backdrop of contemporary arguments about the syncretic or anti-syncretic character of some social experiences in Timor-Leste.
do poder local, argumento que o reconhecimento e a incorporação de dimensões dos complexos locais de governança têm se dado de modo a transformá‑las em vias para geração de efeitos de pacificação, integração e monopolização do poder. Ao mesmo
tempo, os usos da kultura servem à transposição e internalização de práticas e projetos modernos de organização social e subjetivação. Exploro as críticas à partidarização das eleições locais como um ato de resistência e agência de setores das populações rurais
aos projetos de apropriação política de aspetos de suas dinâmicas de reprodução social pelas elites nacionais baseadas em Díli.
addressing discourses and political projects that respond to the revival
of kultura in Timor-Leste, and examining the perception of some East
Timorese priests that Catholicism is being weakened by this revival.2 From the priests’ perspectives, the relations between kultura and Christianity are associated with conversion to Christianity. They expect that conversion to Christianity implies discontinuity − a break with practices and beliefs in local spiritual agents (cf. Keane 2007). I examine how my interlocutors try to explain the continuity of Timorese people’s commitments to these institutions and their agents. In other words, how they try to make sense of the way in which adherence to Christianity is not effecting (nor, for some, should it effect) discontinuity or rupture. Furthermore, I explore how Catholic clergy attribute the revival of kultura to what they see as a superficial, formalist, passive and low-quality adherence to Catholicism by some Timorese people. Given this fact, some of my interlocutors present projects for purification and monopolisation of faith (Latour 1994) to confront the ‘spiritual ecologies’ (Palmer 2015), which characterise the mystic practices of most people. Nevertheless, not all clergy in Timor Leste agree with these attempts to rid Catholicism of the remnants of customary practices; there is no overall consensus on the appropriate relationship between kultura and Catholicism. There are ranks within the Church that defend the coexistence between kultura and Christianity, arguing in favour of the need for inculturation.
I identify among my interlocutors three distinct projects that shape the
relationship between kultura and Christianity and motivate interactions of clergy with their parishioners: the first, a project for a tactical use
of kultura as a transitory means for the introduction and strengthening of
Christianity; the second, a project that supports an enduring coexistence
and mutual reinforcement of kultura and of Christianity, with some
selectivity; and the third, a project that seeks the extinction of kultura,
because of its supposed incompatibility with Christianity.
Ita maun alin… o livro do irmão mais novo : afinidades antropológicas em torno de Timor-Leste / org. Kelly Silva, Lúcio Sousa. Lisboa, Colibri. p.21-28
Apoios: IELT /CEMRI
an anthropological perspective, this introduction seeks to map potential methodological and theoretical questions for discussing such equation. One also outlines
registers and historical and contemporary genealogies of artistic practices in order to suggest clues and challenges to be pursued by further studies in the area. The analysis of the articles which this dossier is made up of allows to discuss the developmentof political appropriation of art by various actors, revealing the emergence of new orientalisms and mediation processes, both local and international, in the making of art worlds in East Timor.
Art, agency and power effects in East Timor.
Cadernos de Arte e Antropologia , Vol. 4, No 1 | 2015