| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Timor-Leste was shaken by a violent national crisis from April 2006 to April 2008. This article examines the role that youths played in the crisis by providing an empirical mapping of the groups involved and the dynamics provoking youth participation in violence. Martial arts groups, ritual arts groups and bairo youth groups were dominant in the street violence that left Timor-Leste in turmoil, notably in Dili. The presence and agitation of their members helped to escalate and perpetuate the crisis. This was facilitated by the sheer scale of the groups' memberships, a fluid socio-cultural situation caused by political unrest, and widespread discontent among a young generation detached from the solidarity of Timor-Leste's resistance era.
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