Overview

Following the 1999 Popular Consultation, Timor-Leste began a process of building a democratic State, initially led by the United Nations and with strong support from the international community. 18 years later, and with the departure of the last United Nations mission in 2012 and the progressive Timorisation of the State, several studies have brought to light the centrality of the local, of communities (sucos*, villages, lineage groups of sacred houses) vis-a-vis the structures of the centralised State in Dili.

In this context, this colloquium addresses the various links/tensions between the State and the communities (sucos, villages, Uma Lulik), where the land and the sacred house remain places of identity, governance and justice. Issues of identity and social reproduction, governance, justice and rights claims, will be discussed in the broad framework of tension/dialogue between the various levels of locality with the structures of the State, which intends to be a unifier of all these plural realities, yet faces resistance to the imposition of a homogeneous system of justice and governance and identity. Among other topics, the colloquium will discuss State building processes and United Nations interventions, local administration, the role of the courts and community justices, local dynamics of promotion of rights, debates on land distribution and land ownership and narratives of nation, identity, and cultural policies in dispute.

This event will present the results of research carried out by CES scholars, as well as from Timor-Leste and Brazil, in the fields of Sociology, Law, Anthropology and Political Science.

A photo-exhibition on Dialogues on Justice and Knowledges in Timor-Leste will be held under this event

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