1. Introduction
2. Indigenous Societies and the Early Colonial Era
3. The Intensification of Colonial Power
4. Decolonisation and the Rise of East Timorese Political Parties 1974-5
5. Forced Integration and the Reorganisation of the Nation 1976-1989
6. The 1990s: The CNRT and the Clandestine Resistance
7. Untaet and the Constitutional Assembly 1999-2002
8. Nation-Building Challenges After Independence
9. The Political-Military Crisis: East and West
10. 2007-2012: Divisions in the Elite
11. 2013-2015: The Return of National Unity
12. Conclusion
Biography
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.
This is an outstanding contribution to the literature on Timor-Leste nationalism and nationalism in general, and is a veritable tour de force in the study of nation-building in post-colonial nation-states. The results of the author’s statistical work combine with interviews carried out and a close study of the literature to produce an authoritative work that opens new vistas of understanding for political scientists, historians, and anthropologists, as well as providing policy-makers with a guide to the past, present, and future of Timor-Leste. It is a splendid book, which serves as a point of departure for all who wish to refine their ideas about how nation-states emerge.
David Hicks, Professor of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, USA
Leach’s 500-year sweep of history deserves an audience far beyond the community of scholars of East Timor. He shows that East Timorese nationalism has diverged in distinctive ways from Eurocentric models which dominate nationalism studies. He is judicious in his consideration of evidence, whilst retaining a sympathy for his subject.
Clinton Fernandes, Professor of International and Political Studies, University of New South Wales, Australia
