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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16pt; font-family:Optima">Book Launch: Local Governance in Timor-Leste: Lessons in Postcolonial Statebuilding</span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16pt; font-family:Optima">Deborah Cummins<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima"><a href="https://www.eventbrite.com.au/org/2834038366?s=16855813" target="_blank"></a>Friday, 15 May 2015 from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima">The Brunswick Street Bookstore</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima">305 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy</span><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima">Melbourne, VIC</span><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima"></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:18pt; font-family:Optima"><br>
</span></b><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima">To be launched by Associate Professor Michael Leach, Timor-Leste Studies Association and Swinburne University of Technology</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima">Event Details</span></b><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span><b><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima"></span></b></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)">Please join Deborah Cummins for a chat, Q&A and book signing of her new book, Local Governance in Timor-Leste: Lessons in Postcolonial
Statebuilding. This is a book about local life, law and governance in the villages of Timor-Leste. It is also a book about what happens when very Westernised systems of governance are imposed on villagers, without taking into account their customary governance,
culture and local realities.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)">As with many other postcolonial nations around the world, Timorese communities are characterised by two systems of law and governance:
the law and governance of the state, and customary law and governance which has served Timorese villages for centuries. It is not a question of choosing between one or the other: customary governance, known as<span class=""> </span><em>lisan</em><span class=""> </span>or<span class=""> </span><em>adat</em>,
continues to be strong, particularly in the rural areas, even as democratisation takes hold. This is everyday reality for Timorese villagers, who cross daily between these two systems, but is something that organisations engaged in the statebuilding process
have found difficult to understand and engage with. Drawing on approximately 5 years’ fieldwork, the author examines some of the implications of this basic reality for those working in communities, and for the statebuilding and development process more generally.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)">Books on sale by The Brunswick Street Bookstore.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)"> </span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><em><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51); font-style:normal">Handcrafted Timorese door prizes will be given out. Drink on arrival.</span></em><i><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)"></span></i></p>
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<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><b><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)">About the author:</span></b></p>
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<p style="margin:0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; line-height:15pt"><span style="font-size:13pt; font-family:Optima; color:rgb(51,51,51)">Dr. Deborah Cummins is the Founder and Director of Bridging Peoples, an agency focussed on exploring and promoting community-sensitive
approaches to development, based in Timor-Leste. Since she first arrived in 2008, she has worked for a variety of development organisations on issues related to local governance and leadership, community development, women’s empowerment, supporting civil society
and more. She has also worked as a lecturer and researcher on community development, international development, and public policy at the National University of Timor-Leste and various Australian universities. She has published on a variety of issues in Timor-Leste,
including the interaction of customary and state-based governance, community development, democratisation, state- and institution-building, women's leadership and approaches to addressing domestic violence. She lives and works in Timor-Leste.</span></p>
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<a href="http://www.swinburne.edu.au/health-arts-design/staff-profiles/view.php?who=mleach" target="_blank"></a><br>
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