Sea-Change: Mambai Sensory Practices and Hydrocarbon Exploitation in Timor-Leste by Prash Naidu A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology) in the University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Professor Stuart Kirsch, Chair Professor Webb Keane Professor Maria Lemos Professor Erik Mueggler Prashanthan Naidu
[email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3619-3636 © Prashanthan Naidu 2019 Dedication This dissertation is dedicated to the memory of my grandparents, Avva and Thata, and Avo Roza in Timor-Leste. ii Acknowledgements I recall the times Avva, my paternal grandmother, whiffed deeply into a piece of fruit before placing it under my untrained nose. “Here, smell it. You can tell by the smell if it’s ripe,” she said. This memory rematerialized many years later when my Mambai host mother, Roza, beckoned me to smell the fish caught by her husband in the Tasi Mane. “You won’t smell the sea when you smell our fish, you will only smell death,” Roza would often remind me during fieldwork. Not only did Roza nudge me to study the vital role of the senses in people’s perception of environmental change, she also stirred memories of my grandmother’s olfactory teachings. Roza and her family Araujo shared more than food, safety, and shelter with me; they left me with a sense of purpose in documenting and writing about the sea-change experienced by people at the margins of international concern. As an adviser once shared with me, an acknowledgement is the materialization of our lived memories.