The Construction of Masculinities and Violence: "Youth Gangs" in Dili, East Timor

Abstract

It was the sudden resurgence of violence in 2006 that brought Southeast Asia’s newest nation – East Timor – back to the forefront of public attention, and spotlighted the role of youth gangs as main perpetrators of street violence in East Timor’s capital Dili. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2007, this paper challenges conventional myths about an aggressive East Timorese ‘youth bulge’ by using theoretical notions on the construction of masculinities and violence as tools for analysis. The paper will portray gangs against the structural background of major socio-economic transformations accelerated by the international intervention and experiences of violence during Indonesian occupation as active agents strategically using violence as resource for (identity) politics.