Local Perspectives and International Regions in the Making: Timor-Leste as a Case Study

Abstract:This paper is an exploratory exercise in understanding the construction of international regions using anthropological perspectives, with Timor-Leste as a case study. We propose that 'local beyond-border perspectives' establish a new domain within the world at large as a representation of transnationalism and globalization 'from the bottom-up'. We discuss this using an interdisciplinary approach—anthropology and international relations—to contribute to the study of international regions through a complementary double-ideological system spanning state relations and local perspectives. We argue that the beyond-border perceptions that people from Timor-Leste have of regional organizations are more appropriately understood as projections of their narratives and aspirations. Such situational flexibility, understood as pragmatic transnationalism, builds upon ancient narratives and inside-outside relations.