The state of East Timor studies after 1999

Abstract

Taking stock of the state of knowledge on East Timor since the UN intervention of 1999, this article traces the rise of a hegemonic discourse especially around development issues notably as promoted by the World Bank. In turn, the World Bank discourse of lean government, market-oriented economic policies, and export-oriented agriculture is reflected in a number of publications. As a formidable patronage machine in East Timor, it would not be surprising if arriving international staff along with East Timorese returnees would emerge as Bank collaborators or even employees. The thriving NGO community which emerged in East Timor as the underbelly of the UN mission also found common cause with human rights discourse and, especially, sustainable development discourse from within the UN mission. Meanwhile, a number of foreign anthropologists embedded themselves within and without the UN mission producing a major corpus of writings. Amidst this “clash of paradigms” East Timor muddled along, dependent on donor support, but prey to vagaries of seasons, international markets, and predatory outsiders. To a large extent, the international agency, NGO, and academic literature tracked these vagaries but, outside of linguistic studies, we await a critical mass of autonomous writings by East Timorese about East Timor.