Why nationalism did not emerge earlier in Timor-Leste : customary cultures confront globalising modernism

This article explores Timor-Leste’s long history of colonial encounters with modernity and globalisation. Over a couple of centuries these forces contributed to creating a particular form of customary nationhood that differed from other nations which, on the face it, appear to have parallel histories. More than that, a sense of nationhood came later in Timor-Leste than in most colonial and postcolonial settings. Through an analysis of Timor’s predominantly customary forms of sociality and organisation, this article explores why political nationalism came so late to a territory that like many other colonies had an established generalising cultural identity and was part of a global history of colonisation. Drawing in issues such as Timor’s place in global history, conflict, resistance, Indigenous power, the unevenness of Portuguese colonisation, rejection of the homogenising process and the naming of the Timorese people, it is concluded that the continuing depth of customary-traditional cultures and the nature of the colonial experience cut against the early formation of a sense of nationhood, even as this became one of the strengths in the Timorese fight against colonial oppression.