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Narrative assemblages for power-balanced coastal and marine governance. Tara Bandu as a tool for community-based fisheries co-management in Timor-Leste

Maritime Studies volume 17, pages 55–67 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

Poverty alleviation and resource governance are inextricably related. Mainstream resource management has been typically criticized by social scientists for the inherent power imbalances between fishery managers and small-scale fishing communities. Yet, while a number of mechanisms of collective action to address these power imbalances have been developed, they remain undertheorized. This paper builds upon first-hand experience of the authors in assisting the community of Biacou to strengthen the resource management role of a local ban called Tara bandu, as well as a qualitative study conducted one year after its implementation. Our argument is fourfold. First, we suggest that in geographies where mainstream resource management cannot be implemented, strengthening custom-based institutions in hybrid mechanisms provides an opportunity to promote a more sustainable use of coastal and marine resources in a cost-effective manner. Second, by analyzing the different narratives that were embedded in the process, we argue that community-based fisheries co-management can benefit from creating narrative assemblages. Third, we explore how the principles of agnosticism, generalized symmetry, and free association can be integrated in the work of fisheries managers to neutralize power imbalances with fishing communities. Fourth, we contribute to the current conceptualization of hybrid organizations in fisheries co-management.

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Notes

  1. Following Descola, “Whether they are self- ascribed or externally defined, whether they are crafted by humans or only perceived by humans, whether they are material or immaterial, the entities of which our universe is made have a meaning and identity solely through the relations that constitute them as such. Although relations precede the objects that they connect, they actualize themselves in the very process by which they produce their term” (Descola 2005).

  2. We use the term custom-based instead of customary to avoid the perception by the reader that Tara bandu has survived unchanged throughout history. By custom-based, we consider those practices that are based on representations of the “customary” and are locally regarded as “based on tradition.” We also avoid the use of custom-like or others, that present it as an “invented tradition” created anew. On the negative political consequences and misunderstandings brought along by this latter notion, see the works of Linnekin (Linnekin 1991).

  3. One of the classic Tara bandu reported during the Portuguese times (Cinatti 1965; King 1965) was the case of Be-malai (literally means “foreign waters”), a lake located in the current District of Bobonaro, near the hamlet of Biacou. Both the local narratives and ethnographic records from the mid-twentieth century recount the intervention of the Portuguese administrators in the open conflict between the peoples of the area of Balibó and Atabae for the ownership of the lake, over which two linguistic groups (Kemak-Atabae and Tetum-Balibó) had maintained regular wars.

  4. Developing some form of what is locally referred to as the adat-plenat (tradition-government) style of governance (Meitzner Yoder 2005). Recent works by Roque (2011) report on the efforts by the Portuguese colonial powers to understand, codify, and use indigenous practices for the sake of colonial interests (Roque 2011).

  5. Some authors report the lifting of the ban is done every year (Barreto and Silvestre 2011), every 2 years (Cinatti 1965) or every 4 years (King 1965).

  6. Administratively, Timor-Leste is divided in 13 Districts. The Districts are subdivided into 65 Sub-districts, 442 Sucos and 2225 Aldeias (hamlets).

  7. Note that the hamlet only accounts for 84 households.

  8. To recount the history in terms of four phases or “compartments,” informants use: the ancestors time (tempo bei ala or avó sira nian), the Portuguese time (tempo portugués), the Indonesian time (tempo indonesia), and nowadays or the time of independence (tempo agora or tempo ukun an).

  9. Note that we have avoided any detail in the transcription and have avoided recounting the origin narrative per se in this paper.

  10. See Weber (2008) for a quick overview of the subsequent regulations during the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor.

  11. The 2001 fisheries policy (MAF 2001) was notably oriented on sector development. The shift to an approach more focused on environmental protection of the domestic fisheries sector was linked to the progressive arrival of international development projects beginning in 2002, and was visible in the new drafted policy of 2005 (MAF 2007; MAFF 2005).

  12. Nahe biti, literally “unrolling the mat,” has been conceptualized in the academic literature as a local mode of reconciliation (Soares 2004). For a discussion on the multiple use and meanings of nahe biti, see Fidalgo Castro (2015).

  13. Elsewhere, we have proposed their recognition under the article aimed at regulating the co-management commissions within Fisheries Government Decree 5/2004 (Alonso et al. 2012)

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Acknowledgements

The work upon which this paper was based was possible thanks to the support of the Government of Spain through the FAO executed Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia in Timor-Leste. Further support was provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to develop the qualitative study one year after the implementation of the project.

An earlier version of the present case study was presented during the workshop on Strengthening organizations and collective action in fisheries—Towards the formulation of a capacity development programme, held in Barbados on 4–6 November 2014. The workshop was organized by the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies of The University of West Indies and financially supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). A further version was presented at the MARE Conference in 2015. This journal paper was discussed and reviewed at the write-shop on Strengthening collective action and organization in small-scale fisheries for poverty reduction organized by FAO on 16–18 November 2016 in Rome, Italy. Strengthening collective action and organizations is one of FAO’s pillars to reducing rural poverty. The authors thank FAO for supporting the development of this work.

The want to extend their acknowledgement to Marteen Banvick for his useful insights on an earlier version of the paper. This paper benefited from comments and the interaction with all the workshop participants: Svein Jentoft, Paul Onyango, John Kurien, Susana V. Siar, Antonio Diegues, Anna Child, Patrick McConney, and Vivienne Solis Rivera.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arthropology Lab, López Mora 46-2B, 36211, Vigo, Pontevedra, Spain

    Enrique Alonso-Población

  2. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Comoro, Dili, Timor-Leste

    Pedro Rodrigues

  3. Sumatra Konservasi Alam (Sumatra Nature Conservation), Pulau Weh, Aceh, Indonesia

    Crispen Wilson

  4. WorldFish Center, Comoro, Dili, Timor-Leste

    Mario Pereira

  5. Fisheries Consultant, 6 the Francis Garnier, 34090, Montpelllier, France

    Robert Ulric Lee

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  1. Enrique Alonso-Población
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Enrique Alonso-Población was Technical Advisor/Team Leader of the RFLP project in Timor-Leste. One year after the end of the project implementation, he led the qualitative research upon which this paper is based. He conducted fieldwork, accomplished data, and information analysis and was lead writer for the paper. Pedro Rodrigues worked as National Project Coordinator of the RFLP in Timor-Leste. One year after project implementation, he participated in the qualitative research project. He conducted fieldwork, transcribed interviews, and co-authored the first case study report. Crispen Wilson was Co-Management and Livelihoods International Consultant at the RLFP Timor-Leste. Beyond project implementation, he contributed to the conceptualization and writing process of this paper. Mario Pereira participated in the implementation of this project as per his role as Co-management and Livelihoods National Consultant of the RFLP Timor-Leste. Robert Ulric Lee contributed to the writing process of the first version of the case study over which this paper builds upon.

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Correspondence to Enrique Alonso-Población.

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Alonso-Población, E., Rodrigues, P., Wilson, C. et al. Narrative assemblages for power-balanced coastal and marine governance. Tara Bandu as a tool for community-based fisheries co-management in Timor-Leste. Maritime Studies 17, 55–67 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-018-0093-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40152-018-0093-9

Keywords

  • Community-based fisheries management
  • Fisheries co-management
  • Coastal and marine governance
  • Collective action
  • Ritual
  • Timor-Leste

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