“Nations-of-Intent” : Competing Ideological Views of Nationalism in Timor-Leste, 1974–1999

Abstract

In the wake of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution on April 25 1974, several East Timorese political parties emerged as Portugal’s Armed Forces Movement (Movimento das Forças Armadas) announced a rapid decolonisation agenda. Each bore a distinct “nation-of-intent” or ideological vision of nationalism. The clashes between these nations-of-intent would define the fault lines within early East Timorese nationalism. This chapter applies the concept of “nation-of-intent” to the case of Timor-Leste. It examines these competing conceptions of the nation in Timor-Leste, their evolution over time and the ways these nations-of-intent informed the strategies and organisational evolution of the resistance from 1974 to 1999.