Sea-Change: Mambai Sensory Practices and Hydrocarbon Exploitation in Timor-Leste

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. I am indebted to many people and their sensory practices throughout the completion of my doctoral work and dissertation. My greatest debt of gratitude is to the many Mambai residents of Betano and the highlands. While my host family would have welcomed another fisher into their community, their trust and generosity made my research possible. I am grateful to the fisher families and especially Marcelo who took me under his prow and allowed me to accompany him on daily fishing trips. Because of his training, I learned to listen to the waves and smell the fish. I left Timor-Leste with a different sense of balance than the one I came with. It is my hope that my newly acquired Mambai sense of balance will be adequate to process my grief when I think about Mario, my first friend and interlocutor, and his untimely death iii during my fieldwork. More health care centers and preventative services are necessary outside of the capital, Dili. To the Mambai, major debts must be repaid threefold throughout the course of one’s life. This dissertation barely makes a dent to my balance and I hope to make satisfactory payments to the Mambai henceforth. In Dili, I am thankful for spirited and much-needed discussions and consultations with Timorese youth and recent university graduates, in particular Berta Antonieta, Mica Soares, and Guteriano Neves. I recall the many topics we discussed, including extractive development along the south coast, their memories of violence and trauma, their efforts on community health and well-being, geopolitics, and where to find a cold beer. Special thanks to the lively academic and support community in Dili, including Dr. Helen Hill, John Miller, Endie van Binsbergen, Charles Scheiner, Joshua Trindade, Fidelis Maghales, and the staff members of La’o Hamutuk. For hospitality and company, I thank Tricia Johns, Tracey Morgan, and José Ramos Horta, the former President of Timor-Leste. I also thank Tom Hyland, for working his malae bo’ot magic for my research visa. The Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan provided me with an intellectual home that is incomparable in breadth, expertise, and generosity. Stuart Kirsch was the most genial and caring adviser, mentor, and chair that I could have ever asked for. From my first year in Ann Arbor, when Stuart encouraged my interest on the senses, to shaping my (sometimes monthly) changing trajectory and overseeing my dissertation, he has been steadfast in his commitment and mentorship. I would especially like to thank him for encouraging me to follow my own intellectual trajectory, encouraging me to combine approaches and writing styles. It is because of Stuart that I have been able to see this dissertation to completion. I can’t thank Stuart enough for the time, the conversations, and the encouragement that he has provided. Stuart iv set the bar as an adviser and I plan to follow suit in my role as a college faculty member. In addition to Stuart, Webb Keane has been outstanding in his mentorship and advising during my time at Michigan. Webb often recollects meeting me for the first time at the Annual Meetings. I recall wearing a suit that hid my nervousness. Though my attire has changed much since our first meeting, Webb’s commitment to my project and his sharp and insightful critiques have remained steadfast. Like Stuart, Webb encouraged me to pursue my own intellectual trajectory and to write with confidence. I am forever grateful for our many conversations on topics close to our fieldwork and for instilling in me the merits of good ethnography to raise new questions on the human experience. My dissertation also benefited greatly from conversations with members of my committee including Erik Mueggler and Maria Lemos; I thank Erik for his critical insights and lucid conversations as well as his astute comments on this dissertation. Though Maria joined my committee at a later stage, she was vital in helping me frame my arguments to a broader audience interested in pollution and environmental problems. I thank her for helping me shape my dissertation and her mentorship in the final stages of the dissertation. At Michigan, I am also grateful to the many conversations over the years on perception and sensory experience with Matt Hull, Krisztina Fehervary, Alaina Lemon, Michael Lempert, Bruce Mannheim, Holly Peters-Golden, David Akin, Tom Trautmann, Damani Partridge, Mike McGovern, Barb Meek, Rudolf Mrazek, and John Mitani. In particular, Gillian Feeley-Harnik, provided stellar comments on chapter 3 of this dissertation. This project and dissertation would have been impossible without my Michigan cohort: Niku T’archechu T’arhesi, Sandhya Narayanan, Nama Khalil, Jeffrey Bradshaw, and Irisa Arney. My sensory life and intellectual world are indebted especially to my extended family I v found in Warren Thompson, Adrian Deoanca, Obed Garcia, Georgia Ennis, John Doering-White, Matan Kaminer, Adrienne Lagman, and Barry Brillantes. Keep smelling the future! I further thank Stuart Kirsch and participants in the Michigan’s Ethnolab workshop for their insights and feedback on many of my chapter drafts, including Allison Caine, Drew Haxby, Aleksandr Sklyar, Jessica Lowen, Jessica Worl, Jennifer Tucker, Nishita Trisal, Nicholas Caverly, Sonia Rupcic, and Ben Hollenbach. My sincere thanks to Andrew Foster for listening to multiple versions of my arguments over the years. I convey my gratitude and thanks to executive producer Dr. Diana Glazebrook and editor Dr. Simone Dennis at The Asia-Pacific Journal of Anthropology, in which portions of chapter 2 were published. I am deeply grateful to Judith Bovensiepen and Laura Yoder who provided excellent comments and revisions that greatly strengthened portions of chapter 2. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 also benefited from lively debate and discussion at the Annual Meetings of the American Anthropological Association in Chicago, IL and San Jose, CA as well as the 20th and 21st Michicagoan Annual Graduate Student Conference in Linguistic Anthropology. I thank Kristina Wirtz, Hilary Parsons Dick, and Carlos D. Londoño Sulkin for their insights and suggestions in their capacity as discussants. At the University of Chicago, Michael Silverstein and Costas Nakassis were instrumental in helping me shape my approach from the very beginning of this dissertation. My interest in the social sciences and anthropology began at the University of Minnesota, Morris. Donna Chollett was my first mentor and adviser and has continued to inspire my approach to fieldwork and teaching. Thank you for believing in me. In addition, Julie Pelletier introduced me to the world of medical anthropology and history of science and medicine; I continue to pursue her passions through my teaching. vi I am also very grateful for the financial support and intellectual camaraderie that I received over the years. I thank the Wenner-Gren Foundation and the Rackham International Research Award at the Rackham Graduate School at the University of Michigan; their funding made this research possible. The invaluable support of the Rackham Humanities Research Award and the Rackham Predoctoral Fellowship made dissertation writing as enjoyable as possible. Finally, I thank my parents and my grandparents for socializing me into their sensory worlds. As I look toward the future, I thank Renee Morss for being the most supportive partner I could have asked for during the chaos of dissertation writing. Amidst love, trails, and fried chicken, I can’t wait to continue our sensory journey together. vii Table of Contents Dedication………...…………………………………………………………………………………………………... ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………………….. iii List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………………………………xi List of Figures………………………………………………………………………………………………………..xii Note on Languages and Transcription……………………………………………………………………………xiii Abstract………………………..……………………………………………………………………………………..xv Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………………... 1 Locating Betano

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