Schooling for Revolution: the Student Movement in Timor Leste

Seminar abstract

This seminar presents a brief summary of the PhD thesis ‘Schooling for Revolution: The Role of Education in the Struggle for East Timor Independence’. The thesis argues that education for the Timorese served as an incubator for nationalist ideas. The thesis ranges from the Portuguese colonial period through the development of education during the Indonesian occupation and focuses on the role of students as active agents of revolution. This thesis is based on a large body of interviews with key student participants. Much of the thesis examines the formation, development and activities of two principal student organizations of the Indonesian period: OJETIL and RENETIL. It concludes with an examination of engagement of students from these organizations, as well as other youth, in the struggle that culminated in the United Nations sponsored referendum for East Timor’s independence.

Speaker bio

Ivo Mateus Goncalves commenced his PhD at ANU in 2017. His research project examines Timor-Leste’s history of activism with the focus on the history of student movement, with a working title “Schooling for Revolution: The role of Education in the Struggle for East Timor Independence.” His research interests are history and memory, cultural anthropology, ethnography research, history of student movement, the history of class formation, social impact studies and social movement. He has a Bachelor of Arts (2011), majoring in Development Studies with the thesis entitled “Impact of the Cuban Medical Brigade on Grassroots Healthcare in East Timor.”