Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Researching Peace Peacefully: Using Ethnographic Approaches in Timor-Leste

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Ethnographic Peace Research

Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

Abstract

I conducted research in Timor-Leste on the effectiveness of international peacebuilding and development interventions that took place between 1999 and 2013. I wanted to use research approaches that avoided perpetuating structural or cultural violence and explicitly strengthened local capacities for peace. I used an ethnographic research approach that connects peacebuilding and Indigenous rights. In this chapter, I identify four elements that are key to this ethnographic research approach: reflexivity, sampling and interviewing processes grounded in Indigenous participation, use of systems theory and abductive analysis to analyse qualitative data and finally, the importance of seeking free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from all participants. With these elements, an ethnographic approach can provide the researcher with tools to research peace more peacefully in and with Indigenous communities.

The author wishes to thank Dr Gearoid Millar and Dr Janet Hunt for their helpful comments on this chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    My system of referencing interviews maintains anonymity as each participant is coded. For example, U-1800-031010 indicates a participant whose interview took place at 18:00 hours on 3 October 2010.

  2. 2.

    The Advanced Consortium on Cooperation Conflict and Complexity (AC4), the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Columbia University, the Institute of World Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University are participating in the Innovation Lab on Dynamical Systems Theory, Peace and Conflict . See: http://conflictinnovationlab.org

References

  • Alfred, Taiaiake. 1999. Peace Power Righteousness: An Indigenous Manifesto. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, Mary. 1999. Do No Harm: How Aid Can Support Peace—Or War. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). 2001. Guidelines for Ethical Research in Indigenous Studies. Canberra: Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chigas, Diana, and Peter Woodrow. 2013. Systems Thinking in Peacebuilding Evaluations. In Evaluation Methodologies for Aid in Conflict, ed. Ole Winckler Andersen, Beate Bull, and Megan Kennedy-Chouane, 175–197. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Close, Sophia. 2016a. Ukun Rasik A’an: Indigenous Self-determined Development and Peacebuilding in Timor-Leste. PhD diss., Australian National University.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016b. Ukun rasik an, dezenvolvimentu no prosesu harii paz Indíjena iha Timor-Leste. In Understanding Timor-Leste 2015: The Local, the Regional and the Glocal, ed. Sarah Smith, Nuno C. Mendes, Antero B. da Silva, Alarico da Costa Ximenes, Clinton Fernandes, and Michael Leach, 48–53. Hawthorn: Swinburne Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cobo, Jose R. Martinez. 1983. Study of the Problem of Discrimination against Indigenous Populations. Final Report E/CN.4/Sub.2/1983/21/Add.8. New York, NY: United Nations Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.

    Google Scholar 

  • Commission for Reception Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste (CAVR). 2005. Chega! The Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste. Dili: Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in Timor-Leste.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cornwell, Katy, Brett Inder, and Gaurav Datt. 2015. Measuring Poverty and Well Being in Timor-Leste. Melbourne: Monash Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, Charlotte Aull. 1999. Reflexive Ethnography: A Guide to Researching Selves and Others. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, Megan. 2015. Indigenous Constitutional Recognition from the Point of View of Self-Determination and its Exercise Through Democratic Participation. Indigenous Law Bulletin 8 (19): 10–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Oliveira, Ivette. 2002. The Situation of Women as Sex Slaves in East Timor. In Nationbuilding in East Timor, ed. G. Rodrigues. Clementsport, NS: The Canadian Peacekeeping Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deloria, Vine. 1973. God is Red. New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap.

    Google Scholar 

  • Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. 2010. What is Free Prior Informed Consent? Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre. Accessed March 24, 2010. http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au/socialscience/downloads/DKCRC-SS-BP7-Free-Prior-Informed-Consent.pdf.

  • Devere, Heather, Kellie Te Maihāroa, and John P. Synott. 2016. Peacebuilding and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Experiences and Strategies for the 21st Century. New York, NY: Springer Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dinnen, Sinclair, and Lia Kent. 2015. Hybridity in Peacebuilding and Development: A Critical Interrogation. In Brief 2015/50. Canberra: State, Society and Governance in Melanesia, Australian National University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emerson, Robert. 1983. Contemporary Field Research. Boston, MA: LittleBrown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, James. 2000. Tracing the Path, Recounting the Past: Historical Perspectives on Timor. In Out of the Ashes: Destruction and Reconstruction of East Timor, ed. James Fox and D. Babo-Soares, 1–27. Adelaide: Crawford House Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, Johan. 1969. Violence, Peace and Peace Research. Journal of Peace Research 6 (3): 167–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ———. 1996. Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace, Conflict, Development and Civilization. London: SAGE Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garroutte, Eva Marie. 2003. Real Indians: Identity and the Survival of Native America. Berkeley, CA: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, B., and A. Strauss. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Graham, Mary. 2013. The Concept of Ethics in Australian Aboriginal Systems of Thought. Custodial Navigator: A Preamble. Accessed January 1, 2014. http://www.indigenoussovereigntyaustralia.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/CustodialNavigator.pdf

  • Grenfell, Damian. 2012. Modernising Timor-Leste: Moving Beyond Ideology. In New Research on Timor-Leste: Timor-Leste Studies Association Conference 2011, ed. Michael Leach, Nuno Mendes, Antero da Silva, Bob Boughton, and Alarico da Costa Ximenes. Hawthorn, VIC: Swinburne Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huggins, Jackie. 1998. Sister Girl—The Writings of Aboriginal Activist and Historian. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hull, Geoffrey. 1998. The Languages of Timor 1772—1997: A Literature Review. Studies in Languages and Cultures of East Timor 1: 1–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Indian Treaty Council. 2008. Indian Treaty Council Conference Room Paper for the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues Seventh Session (UNPFII7) 9 March 2008. New York, NY: United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

    Google Scholar 

  • International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA). 2013. Who are the Indigenous Peoples? Accessed July 14, 2013. http://www.iwgia.org/culture-and-identity/identification-of-indigenous-peoples

  • Katz, Jack. 1982. A Theory of Qualitative Methodology: The Social System of Analytic Fieldwork. In Theory and Evidence in Field Research, ed. Jack Katz. Rutgers, NJ: The State University of New Jersey.

    Google Scholar 

  • Körppen, Daniela, Norbert Ropers, and Hans Joachim Giessmann. 2011. The Non-Linearity of Peace Processes: Theory and Practice of Systemic Conflict Transformation. Leverkusen: Verlag Barbara Budrich.

    Google Scholar 

  • La’o Hamutuk. 2010. Land Justice in Timor-Leste. The La’o Hamutuk Bulletin 11 (1–2): 1–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederach, John Paul, Reina Neufeldt, and Hal Culbertson. 2007. Reflective Peacebuilding: A Planning, Monitoring, and Learning Toolkit. Mindanao: Catholic Relief Services and the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luttrell, Wendy. 2000. ‘Good Enough’ Methods for Ethnographic Research. Harvard Educational Review 70 (4): 499–524.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynge, Aqqaluk. 2009. Climate Change—A Challenge for the Arctic Indigenous Peoples—The Inuit Response. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 8 (1): 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mac Ginty, Roger. 2008. Indigenous Peace-Making Versus the Liberal Peace. Cooperation and Conflict 43 (2): 139–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McWilliam, Andrew. 2007. Meto Disputes and Peacemaking: Cultural Notes on Conflict and its Resolution in West Timor. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 8 (1): 75–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meadows, Dana. 2008. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minh-ha, Trihn T. 1995. No Master Territories. In The Post-Colonial Studies Reader, ed. Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, 196–199. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell, Audra. 2009. Conflict-in-Transformation: Ethics, Phenomenology and the Critique of the ‘Liberalizing’ Peace. International Peacekeeping 16 (5): 667–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreton-Robinson, Aileen. 2016. Critical Indigenous Studies: Engagements in First World Locations. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, Lyndon. 2000. Who’s Afraid of the Dark?: Australia’s Administration in Aboriginal Affairs. MA thesis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakata, Martin. 2007. Disciplining the Savages: Savaging the Disciplines. Canberra: Aboriginal Studies Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nakata, Martin, Victoria Nakata, Sarah Keech, and Reuben Bolt. 2012. Decolonial Goals and Pedagogies for Indigenous Studies. Decolonisation: Indigeneity, Education and Society 1 (1): 120–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, Sue. 2007. New Evidence from East Timor Contributes to Our Understanding of Earliest Modern Human Civilisation East of the Sunda Shelf. Antiquity 81 (313): 523–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). 2015. Aid (ODA) Disbursements to Countries and Regions [DAC2a]. Accessed May 8, 2015. http://stats.oecd.org/qwids

  • Ospina, Sofi, and Tanja Hohe. 2002. Traditional Power Structures and Local Governance in East Timor: A Case Study of the Community Empowerment Project (CEP). Geneva: Graduate Institute of Development Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peirce, Charles Sanders. 1955. Abduction and Induction. In Philosophical Writings of Peirce, ed. Justus Buchler. London: Dover Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posey, Darrell. 2002. Upsetting the Sacred Balance: Can the Study of Indigenous Knowledge Reflect Cosmic Connectedness? In Participating in Development: Approaches to Indigenous Knowledge, ed. Paul Sillitoe, Alan Bicker, and Johan Pottier. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Powdermaker, Hortense. 1966. Stranger and Friend: The Way of an Anthropologist. New York, NY: WW Norton & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ramalingam, Ben. 2013. Aid on the Edge of Chaos: Rethinking International Co-operation in a Complex World. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rawnsley, Claire. 2004. East Timor, A Theology of Death: Massacres, Memorials, Rites and Reconciliation. Proceedings of Peaceworks, Paper presented at the 3rd Triennial Conference of Women Scholars of Religion and Theology. Melbourne: Latrobe University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reeves, Scott, Ayelet Kuper, and Brian David Hodges. 2008. Qualitative Research Methodologies: Ethnography. British Medical Journal 337 (a1020): 512–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richmond, Oliver. 2015. The Dilemmas of a Hybrid Peace: Negative or Positive? Cooperation and Conflict 50 (1): 50–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rigney, L. 1999. Internationalization of an Indigenous Anticolonial Cultural Critique of Research Methodologies: A Guide to Indigenist Research Methodology and Its Principles. Wicazo Sa Review 14 (2): 109–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rihani, Samir. 2002. Complex Systems Theory and Development Practice: Understanding Non-Linear Realities. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous People. New York, NY: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spence, Rebecca, and Jason McLeod. 2002. Building the Road as We Walk It: Peacebuilding as Principled and Revolutionary Nonviolent Praxis. Social Alternatives 21 (2): 61–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauli-Corpuz, Victoria. 2003. Biodiversity, Traditional Knowledge and Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Penang: Third World Network.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans, Stefan, and Iddo Tavory. 2012. Theory Construction in Qualitative Research from Grounded Theory to Abductive Analysis. Sociological Theory 30 (3): 167–186.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traube, Elizabeth. 1986. Cosmology and Social Life: Ritual Exchange Among the Mambai of East Timor. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trindade, Josh. 2014. Matak-Malirin, Tempu Rai-Diak no Halerik: Expressions of what Timorese Longed-for, Fought-for and Died-for. In Understanding Timor-Leste 2013: Volume II, ed. Hannah Loney, Antero B. da Silva, Nuno Mendes, Alarico da Costa Ximenes, and Clinton Fernandes. Hawthor: Swinburne Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, Dale. 2006. This is Not a Peace Pipe: Towards a Critical Indigenous Philosophy. Toronto, ON: University of Toronto Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Development Program (UNDP). 2014. Human Development Report 2014: Sustaining Human Progress: Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience. New York, NY: UNDP.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations General Assembly. 2007. United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: Resolution/adopted Reducing by the General Assembly, A/RES/61/295.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations Women. 2011. Violence against Women Prevalence Data: Surveys by Country. New York, NY: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Centre for Indigenous Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

    Sophia Close

Authors
  1. Sophia Close
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

    Gearoid Millar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Close, S. (2018). Researching Peace Peacefully: Using Ethnographic Approaches in Timor-Leste. In: Millar, G. (eds) Ethnographic Peace Research. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65563-5_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation