Identity in Indonesia and East Timor’s border: Between ‘hope’ and ‘reality’

Abstraksi

Border is indeed a crucial issue in international relations. Over the last decades, evidence shows that unmanaged border leads possibly to international disputes. Thus, myriad of research has been done on this. One of examples, in regards to research, is about the relation between national identity and economic development. Some have argued that border is the ‘battle field’ of national propaganda. Therefore, respected countries have forwarded development in those areas in order to maintain national agendas including keeping national identity . It is unsurprisingly that border becomes prominent and targeted in national development agenda. By economic development, it is hoped that people in border areas will respect and keep their national identity. However, as argued in this paper, national identity is not merely about ‘high’ economic development. Historical background, social and cultural ties as well as geographic location also play important role in determining identities. This paper is based on case study method derived from two selected villages in district Belu, East Nusa Tenggara. These villages are located near the border between Indonesia and Timor Leste. During the stay in both locations, this research benefits from series of in-depth interviews, field observation and documents, which are relevant to support my arguments.