Justice and Governance in East Timor: Indigenous Approaches and the 'New Subsistence State'

This book proposes the typology of the New Subsistence State as a conceptual tool for understanding governance challenges typically faced in jurisdictions characterised by subsistence social and economic relations. Nixon then examines ways in which the case-study of East Timor conforms to the typology of the New Subsistence State. This analysis includes consideration of a range of geographic, historical and socio-political features, and some of the ways these aspects restrict the capacity of the new state to operate effectively in accordance with the modern state model. A particular theme concerns the minimal extent to which the territory of East Timor has experienced meaningful social and economic modernisation throughout any of the chapters of its history.Additionally, a range of other influences contributing to governance challenges in East Timor in contemporary times are examined, including post-conflict aspects, demographic trends and political antipathies which have their origins in the 1974' 1975 period. The analysis demonstrates that East Timor faces major challenges in all main areas of public administration, with the justice sector an area of particular concern.