Nation-Building and National Identity in Timor-Leste

Michael Leach

ISBN 10: 041558213X / ISBN 13: 9780415582131

Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd, 2016

About this Item

Examines the key challenges of national building in Timor-Leste in the ten years since the 1999 independence referendum. This book addresses key issues in the development and reconstruction of an independent East Timor, highlighting its successes and its failures, as well as a set of unresolved issues confronting the state. Series: Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series. Num Pages: 276 pages, 4 black & white tables. BIC Classification: 1FMNT; 3JMC; HBJF; HBLX; JP. Category: (U) Tertiary Education (US: College). Dimension: 164 x 241 x 21. Weight in Grams: 566. . 2017. 1st Edition. Hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9780415582131

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Nation-Building and National Identity in Timor-Leste
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 041558213X
• ISBN 13: 9780415582131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Timor-Leste’s long journey to nationhood spans 450 years of colonial rule by Portugal, a short-lived independence in 1975, and a 24-year occupation by Indonesia. This book examines the history of nation-building and national identity in Timor-Leste, and the evolution of a collective identity through two consecutive colonial occupations, and into the post-independence era. It charts the evolution of the idea of an East Timorese nation: its origins, its sources, and its competitors in traditional understandings of political community, and the distinct colonial visions imposed by Portugal or Indonesia. The author analyses the evolution of ideas of collective identity under the long era of Portuguese colonial rule, and through the 24-year struggle for independence from Indonesia from 1975 to 1999. Reflecting the contested history of the territory, these include successive attempts to define its members as colonial subjects in a wider ‘pluri-racial’ Portuguese empire, as citizens in an ‘integrated’ province of the Republic of Indonesia – and, of course, as a nation that demanded its right to self-determination. Finally, the host of nation-building tensions and fault lines that emerged after the restoration of independence in 2002 are discussed.

Examining the history of debates and conflict over national identity, national history, cultural heritage, language policy, and relationships between distinct regions, generations, and language groups, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Asian studies, nationalism studies, and international and community development.

About the Author

Michael Leach is Professor in Politics at Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia. He has researched and published widely on the politics and history of Timor-Leste, and is a co-founder of the Timor-Leste Studies Association.