Local Governance in Timor-Leste - Secretaria de Estado da Arte e ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The institution-building phase during the UN interregnum in Timor-Leste from 1999to 2002 was based strongly on good governance principles (Russell, 2008: 14, UNDP,2000: 91-96), the 'success' of which was shown by the conduct of free and fairelections leading to independent Timorese government (Chopra, 2003). While therewere various interpretations on what good governance entailed, it was generallyagreed that it was important to build political and economic institutions that wouldprovide a 'supporting environment' for democratisation and development (Russell,2008: 26).However, the new democratic institutions were built over the top of pre-existingtraditional governance structures and norms. As a result, there is significant overlapbetween these two governance 'spheres' where lisan and modern law coexist, and it ispart of everyday local reality to interact with different institutional structures atdifferent times. This experience is not limited to Timor-Leste: numerous studies havebeen done, particularly in Africa, describing similar dynamics (see for exampleCleaver, 2002, Landell-Mills, 1992, Mamdani, 1996, Oomen, 2008). Here, I considerthe various theoretical approaches that have been developed to explain institutionalarrangements in such hybrid postcolonial environments, considering the policy cycleof 'good governance' and democratisation that guides international interventions, theunderlying problematic of structure and agency within institutionalist thought, andfinally putting forward a new conceptual framework by arguing for a critical approachto institutionalism that incorporates the everyday politics of mutual recognition.3.1 Good Governance Theory and DemocratisationTheories around good governance have been of particular interest to internationalactors such as the World Bank and the UNDP, as well as many bilateral donors, whouse this body of work to guide international interventions, promoting economicgrowth and encouraging stable governance environments (Kaufmann et al., 2008:271-74, Scott and Wilde, 2006, Degnbol-Martinussen, 2002). The promotion of goodgovernance through the introduction of political institutions attempts to bring togethermany different strands that are considered important to support a nation'sdevelopment, including promoting economic development (Williams and Young,1994, Kaufmann et al., 2008), the promotion of political participation and45
epresentation through democratisation (Scott and Wilde, 2006, Diamond andPlattner, 1999) and guiding decentralisation initiatives (Holtzappel and Ramstedt,2009, Work, 2002).To support this emphasis on good governance for developing nations, a great deal ofeffort has been put into developing universal indicators to measure governance andhelp guide international interventions. The World Bank was one of the first topromote this approach as their policies on free market reform came under increasingpressure, with initial interest focussed on the links between good governance andeconomic performance (Kaufmann et al., 2008, De Alcantara, 1998: 106-107,Landman and Hausermann, 2003: 2, Einhorn, 2001: 26-30). This approach was thenfollowed by other agencies such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (OECD) and the European Union (EU). Over time these indicators werefurther developed by the UNDP to incorporate political aspects, linking goodgovernance with democracy and the pursuit of human rights (Landman andHausermann, 2003: 2). There are now strong links that have formed between goodgovernance theory and democracy, part of a larger trend following the 'third wave' ofdemocratisation (Huntington, 1991). Theorists such as Fukuyama (2006) now arguethat liberal democracy forms the pinnacle of achievement in governance. Followingthis approach, the promotion of good governance is now intimately tied up withliberal democratic principles, with the UNDP basing its good governance indicatorsspecifically on the normative framework of democratic values developed by theInternational Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (Scott and Wilde,2006: 5). It is now commonplace for international interventions and nation-buildingprograms to include good governance as one of their key aims, and many donorcountries provide bilateral aid on the proviso that good governance is respected andpromoted (Cirillo, 2006, Corothers, 1999, Jenkins and Plowden, 2006).Landman and Hausermann (2003) provide a useful analysis of the different methodsthat underpin the main sets of good governance indicators. In their survey of themajor methods and agencies that promote these indicators, they note that there is an"emerging hegemony" of the measurement type that is promoted by the World Bank,which bases its assessment on six headline indicators: voice and accountability,46
Page 1 and 2:
Local Governance in Timor-Leste:The
Page 3 and 4:
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT‘I hereby gran
Page 5 and 6:
are some important points of tensio
Page 7 and 8: the Canossian sisters in Ainaro—M
Page 9 and 10: 2.6 The Issues of Cross-Cultural Re
Page 11 and 12: LIST OF FIGURESFigure One: The Deve
Page 13 and 14: Tara banduUma kainUma lulikXefe Ald
Page 15 and 16: within, I had failed to recognise t
Page 17 and 18: anthropology of development (Shephe
Page 19 and 20: prefer the term 'local' to recognis
Page 21 and 22: evolve around ideas of traditional
Page 23 and 24: institution that is considered to b
Page 25 and 26: the case given the emphasis on cond
Page 27 and 28: Within these increasingly murky pol
Page 29 and 30: 1.3 Case Study SitesVenilaleVenilal
Page 31 and 32: The reasons for choosing Venilale a
Page 33 and 34: and influences can have on the loca
Page 35 and 36: played out since decolonisation. Th
Page 37 and 38: geographically 'outwards' from uma
Page 39 and 40: CHAPTER TWO: METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWO
Page 41 and 42: 2.1 FieldworkFieldwork was conducte
Page 43 and 44: marked differences in people's idea
Page 45 and 46: interactions between modern and tra
Page 47 and 48: then asking for advice on who else
Page 49 and 50: answer specific questions about how
Page 51 and 52: Every conversation and every experi
Page 53 and 54: discussions. This took a little tim
Page 55 and 56: crucial to the research question—
Page 57: CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUALISING POST
Page 61 and 62: of coordination between these diffe
Page 63 and 64: equally problematic, as this succes
Page 65 and 66: government, and Huntington noted th
Page 67 and 68: Westernise. Equally, the specificit
Page 69 and 70: which individuals both shape and ar
Page 71 and 72: expanded this understanding to incl
Page 73 and 74: within a society. As Remmer puts it
Page 75 and 76: is to distribute power to some and
Page 77 and 78: To explain this point, he makes the
Page 79 and 80: provided by public policy" (Fukuyam
Page 81 and 82: Gramsci's account of hegemonic powe
Page 83 and 84: From this perspective, Gramsci's id
Page 85 and 86: outcomes. Rather, it structures soc
Page 87 and 88: 'shadow side' of the everyday polit
Page 89 and 90: The centrality of these kin-based g
Page 91 and 92: 4.1 Formation of Political Hybridit
Page 93 and 94: While the rule of the liurai was in
Page 95 and 96: to be rejoined. But as local politi
Page 97 and 98: in Europe, this was seen somewhat d
Page 99 and 100: did not make life any easier for th
Page 101 and 102: governor, but slowly seats were inc
Page 103 and 104: The movement towards decolonisation
Page 105 and 106: As the politics reached gradually b
Page 107 and 108: appointed traditionally (Ospina and
Page 109 and 110:
esistance to Indonesian rule (Gunn
Page 111 and 112:
outrage across the world. Following
Page 113 and 114:
f) To assist in the establishment o
Page 115 and 116:
egan to return from their hiding pl
Page 117 and 118:
for a Constituent Assembly (CA) and
Page 119 and 120:
these other factors reveal a more c
Page 121 and 122:
SECTION TWO: EXAMINING LOCAL GOVERN
Page 123 and 124:
hold spiritual and ritual responsib
Page 125 and 126:
Important exchange relationships th
Page 127 and 128:
spiritual significance of the ances
Page 129 and 130:
ight to freedom, for anyone to occu
Page 131 and 132:
The centrality of the liurai house
Page 133 and 134:
As discussed previously, one of the
Page 135 and 136:
order to meet their communal requir
Page 137 and 138:
community, or communal expectations
Page 139 and 140:
within the suku and to lead the kon
Page 141 and 142:
epresentative. These political mech
Page 143 and 144:
structural issue: while the old ins
Page 145 and 146:
democratisation has been seen to er
Page 147 and 148:
Party politics has been one such po
Page 149 and 150:
on the leaders' position within the
Page 151 and 152:
Within this hybrid political enviro
Page 153 and 154:
in the community. While there is a
Page 155 and 156:
authority figures in the aldeia, su
Page 157 and 158:
As fieldwork progressed, it became
Page 159 and 160:
kain), it is taken to the xefe and/
Page 161 and 162:
process, they have the right to go
Page 163 and 164:
(March, 2008). In the absence of le
Page 165 and 166:
explains, he will not engage with a
Page 167 and 168:
this distinction. When I asked abou
Page 169 and 170:
insufficient attention being paid t
Page 171 and 172:
of barlake that lay in the alliance
Page 173 and 174:
functional, leaving them especially
Page 175 and 176:
affiliation with political parties.
Page 177 and 178:
xefe suku explained that the cost o
Page 179 and 180:
that there is a combination of soci
Page 181 and 182:
SECTION THREE: SHAPING LOCAL GOVERN
Page 183 and 184:
automatically become part of the lo
Page 185 and 186:
ecent Shadow Report to CEDAW, which
Page 187 and 188:
Governance must be for something, a
Page 189 and 190:
power within Timorese communities.
Page 191 and 192:
Such structural constraints, howeve
Page 193 and 194:
Across every suku in Venilale and A
Page 195 and 196:
was built for their most remote ald
Page 197 and 198:
While community members may attempt
Page 199 and 200:
networks that use such animistic ri
Page 201 and 202:
strongman, who operated in Venilale
Page 203 and 204:
the community are captured or diver
Page 205 and 206:
strongman specifically uses institu
Page 207 and 208:
CHAPTER EIGHT: BRINGING IT BACK TO
Page 209 and 210:
communities have created various fo
Page 211 and 212:
However, while incoming resources c
Page 213 and 214:
of fundamental importance in consid
Page 215 and 216:
APPENDIX A: LIST OF INTERVIEWEESVEN
Page 217 and 218:
APPENDIX B: MAP OF TIMOR-LESTESourc
Page 219 and 220:
APPENDIX D: POLITICAL MAP OF SUBDIS
Page 221 and 222:
BINNS, T. (2006) 'Doing Fieldwork i
Page 223 and 224:
CHESTERMAN, S. (2002) 'East Timor i
Page 225 and 226:
DEGNBOL-MARTINUSSEN, J. (2002) 'Dev
Page 227 and 228:
Lincoln, Y. (Eds.) The Landscape of
Page 229 and 230:
GRENFELL, L. (2006) 'Legal Pluralis
Page 231 and 232:
HOWARTH, D. (2000) Discourse, Bucki
Page 233 and 234:
LANDMAN, T. & HAUSERMANN, J. (2003)
Page 235 and 236:
MERRY, S. E. (1988) 'Legal Pluralis
Page 237 and 238:
OSPINA, S. & HOHE, T. (2001) Tradit
Page 239 and 240:
RUDOLPH, L. I. (1965) 'The Modernit
Page 241 and 242:
THAKUR, R. & VAN LANGENHOVE, L. (20
Page 243:
WORK, R. (2002) 'Overview of Decent
show all

Local Governance in Timor-Leste - Secretaria de Estado da Arte e ...

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?