State Formation and Political Community in Timor-Leste – The Centrality of the Local

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 e...

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Bibliografische gegevens
Gepubliceerd in:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/rccsar,
Hoofdauteur: Brown, M. Anne
Formaat: Article ou chapitre numérique
Taal:Anglais
Gepubliceerd in: RCCS Annual Review 2015
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Online toegang:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
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Samenvatting: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.