Associate Professor Andrew McWilliam
B.Arts, B.Litt, Phd (ANU)
Senior Fellow
ANU College of Asia and the Pacific
Areas of expertise
- Social And Cultural Anthropology 160104
Research interests
Timor ethnography, minorities and governance in Indonesia and East Timor, customary land and resource tenures, forms of religious practice in eastern Indonesia, mining and development, applied anthropology in economic development, Australian Aboriginal customary land interests and cultural heritage.
Biography
Over the last 10 years I have been pursuing a number of research projects in Indonesia and East Timor. They include completion of an ARC Discovery Project in collaboration with Daniel Fitzpatrick (Faculty of Law, ANU), Waiting for Law: Land, Custom and Legal Regulation in East Timor; an ARC Discovery project with Kathy Robinson (Anthropology, CHL) entitled, Being Muslim in Eastern Indonesia: practice, politics and cultural diversity; and research on an ARC Discovery project with Sue O'Connor (ANH, CHL) exploring cultural and environmental shifts in late holocene settlement patterns of East Timor. In 2014 I began new research with John McCarthy (Crawford, ANU) and Carol Warren (Murdoch, WA) on an ARC Discovery Project entitled, 'Household vulnerability and the politics of social protection in Indonesia'. In 2016 I am initiating a new ARC Discovery project in Timor-Leste with Lisa Palmer (Uni Melb) entitled, Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-Conflict East Timor.
Building on previous cooperation with colleagues from Charles Darwin University, I am also collaborating on an applied research project in eastern Indonesia on social and environmental impacts of artisanal and small scale mining, especially manganese and gold. The project is funded through a DFAT (GPFD) Project (2014-2017) in collaboration with Indonesian partners from regional government, universities and the private sector.
Career highlights
Research anthropologist, Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (1995-2000); Technical advisor, Australian Agency for International Development (1997-2004); Research Fellow, Resource Management in the Asia Pacific Project (1999-2001); Visiting Affiliations, International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), University of Leiden 1998 & 2005; Kahin Centre for Southeast Asian Studies, Cornell University 2007; Agrarian Studies Program, Fall Term, Yale University, 2010; COMPAS, Michaelmas Term, Oxford University 2014.
Publications
- Ingram S, Kent, L, & A. McWilliam (eds) 2015, A New Era? Timor-Leste After the UN, ANU Press, Canberra.
- Ingram, S, Kent, L & A. McWilliam 2015, 'Introduction: Building the Nation: Legacies and Challenges for Timor-Leste', in Sue Ingram, Lia Kent and Andrew McWilliam (eds), A New Era? Timor-Leste after the UN, ANU E Press, Canberra,pp 1-16.
- McWilliam, A 2015, 'Rural Urban Inequalities and Migration in Timor-Leste', in Ingram S., L. Kent, A. McWilliam (eds), A new era? : Timor-Leste after the UN, ANU Press, Canberra, pp. 225-235.
- McWilliam, A & Neale, J 2015, Reflections on a Native Title Anthropology Field School. AIATSIS Discussion Paper No.36, pp1-25, Canberra.
- McWilliam, A 2015, 'Backing themselves: East Timorese labour migrants in Oxford'. Centre for Migration, Policy and Society, http://compasoxfordblog.co.uk/2015/04/
- Robinson, K & McWilliam, A 2015, 'Striving for good practice: Unpacking AusAID's approach to community development', in Susanna Price and Kathryn Robinson (ed.), Making a difference? Social assessment policy and praxis and its emergence in China, Berghahn Books, New York and Oxford, pp. 103-125.
- McWilliam, A et al 2015, 'Seeds of life: Social research for improved farmer yields in Timor-Leste', in Susanna Price and Kathryn Robinson (ed.), Making a difference? Social assessment policy and praxis and its emergence in China, Berghahn Books, New York and Oxford, pp. 126-144.
- McWilliam A.R., L Palmer and C Shepherd 2014 ‘Lulik Encounters and Cultural Frictions in East Timor: past and present’, The Australian Journal of Anthropology (TAJA) Vol 25(3) 304–320
- McWilliam, A 2014, Migration and Rural-Urban Inequalities in Timor-Leste. SSGM In Brief 2014/1
- McWilliam, A.R. 2015 Review of Catherine Allerton: ‘Potent Landscapes: Place and Mobility in Eastern Indonesia’ Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, American Anthropologist Vol 25(1) 172-173.
- McWilliam, A 2014, 'Book review: Hans Hägerdal, 'Lords of the Land, Lords of the Sea: Conflict and Adaption in Early Colonial Timor, 1600-1800', BMGN - Low Countries Historical Review, vol. 129, no. 2, pp. online.
- Shepherd, C & McWilliam, A 2014, 'Divide and Cultivate: Plantations, Militarism and Environment in Portuguese Timor, 1860-1975', in Frank Uekotter (ed.), Comparing Apples, Oranges, and Cotton: Environmental Histories of the Global Plantation, Campus Verlag, Frankfurt, New York / University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 139-166.
- Fitzpatrick, D & A.R. McWilliam 2013, 'Bright-Line Fever: Simple Legal Rules and Complex Property Customs among the Fataluku of East Timor', Law and Society Review , vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 311-343.
- McWilliam A.R. 2013 Cultural Heritage and its Performative Modalities: Imagining the Nino Konis Santana National Park, East Timor’, In, Transcending the Culture-Nature Divide in Cultural Heritage: Views from the Asia-Pacific Region , S. Brockwell S. O'Connor, and D. Byrne (eds), Terra Australis No. 36. ANU E Press, Canberra, pp191-201.
- Shepherd, C & McWilliam, A 2013, 'Cultivating Plantations and Subjects in East Timor: A Genealogy', Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania), vol. 169, no. 2-3, pp. 326-361.
- McWilliam, A 2012, Back to the Future for East Timor: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/news-events/all-stories/back-future.
- Fitzpatrick D. McWilliam A. and S Barnes, 2012 Property and Social Resilience in Times of Conflict: Land, Custom and Law in East Timor, Farnham UK: Ashgate Publishing.
- McWilliam A., D. Bulbeck, S. Brockwell and S.O'Connor, 2012 The Cultural Legacy of Makassar Stone in East Timor, The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 13(3) 262-279,
- McWilliam, A. 2012 New Fataluku Diasporas and Landscapes of Remittance and Return. Local-Global: Identity, Security, Community, vol. 11, 72-85.
- O'Connor, S, McWilliam, A, Fenner, JN, Brockwell, S. 2012, 'Examining the Origin of Fortifications in East Timor: Social and Environmental Factors', Journal of Island & Coastal Archaeology, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 200-218.
- McWilliam A.R. & Traube, E,G. eds, 2011, Land and life in Timor-Leste: ethnographic essays, ANU Press, Canberra.
- McWilliam, A 2011, 'Fataluku Living Landscapes', in Andrew McWilliam and Elizabeth G. Traube (ed.), Land and life in Timor-Leste: ethnographic essays, ANU ePress, Canberra, pp. 61-86.
- McWilliam, A & Traube, E 2011, 'Land and Life in Timor-Leste: Introduction', in Andrew McWilliam and Elizabeth G. Traube (ed.), Land and life in Timor-Leste: ethnographic essays, ANU ePress, Canberra, pp. 1-21.
- McWilliam, A 2011, 'Exchange and resilience in Timor-Leste', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 745-763.
- McWilliam, A 2011, 'Marginal Governance in the Time of Pemekaran: Case Studies from Sulawesi and West Papua', Asian Journal of Social Science, vol. 39, pp. 150-170.
- Shepherd, C. and A. McWilliam. 2011, 'Ethnography, Agency, and Materiality: Anthropological Perspectives on Rice Development in East Timor', East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an International Journal, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 189-215.
- McWilliam, A 2010, 'Comment on Article: Mobilizing Local Knowledge and Asserting Culture: The Cultural Politics of In Situ Conservation of Agricultural Biodiversity Author(s): C. J. Shepherd', Current Anthropology, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 648-49.
- McWilliam A, and Lawrence J., 2009 Anthropological Report on Native Title Interests: Legune, Spirit Hills and Rosewood Pastoral Leases (Northern Territory), Report to the Federal Court of Australia.
- McWilliam, A 2009, 'Trunk and tip in West Timor: Precedence in a botanical idiom', in Michael P Vischer (ed.), Precedence: Social differentiation in the Austronesian World, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 111-130.
- McWilliam, A 2009, 'Improving Food Security in East Timor', Asian Currents, vol. 58, no. July.
- McWilliam, A 2009, 'The spiritual commons: Some immaterial aspects of community economies in eastern Indonesia', The Australian Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 163-177.
- Edyvane, K., McWilliam, A., Quintas, J., Turner, A., Penny, S., Teixeira, I., Pereira, C., Tibirica, Y. and Birtles, A. 2009 Coastal and marine ecotourism values, issues and opportunities on the north coast of Timor Leste – final report. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, National Directorate of Tourism, Government of Timor Leste [80pp].
- McWilliam, A 2008, 'Customary Governance in Timor-Leste', in David Mearns with S Farram (ed.), Democratic Governance in Timor-Leste: Reconciling the local and the national, Charles Darwin University Press, Darwin, pp. 129-142.
- McWilliam, A & Bexley, A 2008, 'Performing politics: The 2007 Parliamentary Elections in Timor Leste', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 66-82.
- McWilliam, A 2008, 'Customary land and legal regulation in East Timor', Southeast Asia Program Bulletin, Cornell University Fall Issue, pp. 26-31.
- McWilliam, A 2008, 'Fataluku Healing and Cultural Resilience in East Timor', Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology, vol. 73, no. 2, pp. 217-240.
- McWilliam, A, Barnes, S & Fitzpatrick, D 2008, 'Policy notes on customary land in East Timor', East Timor Law Journal, pp. 1-10.
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'East and West in Timor-Leste: Is there an Ethnic Divide?', in Dennis Shoesmith (ed.), The Crisis in Timor-Leste: Understanding the Past, Imagining the Future, Charles Darwin University Press, Darwin, pp. 37-44.
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'Customary claims and the public interest: on Fataluku resource entitlements in Lautem', in Damien Kingsbury & Michael Leach (ed.), East Timor: Beyond Independence, Monash University Publishing, Melbourne, pp. 165-178.
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'Austronesians in Linguistic Disguise: Fataluku cultural fusion in East Timor', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 38, no. 2, pp. 355-375.
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'Harbouring Traditions in East Timor: Marginality in a Lowland Entrepot', Modern Asian Studies, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 1113-1143.
- Fox, James J. and McWilliam A. (eds) 2007 Traditional Justice in Timor (Special Issue), The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology Vol 8(1).
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'Introduction: Restorative Custom: Ethnographic Perspectives on Conflict and Local Justice in Timor', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 1-8.
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'Looking for Ade: A contribution to Timorese historiography', Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia and Oceania), vol. 163, no. 2/3, pp. 221-238.
- McWilliam, A 2007, 'Meto Disputes and Peacemaking: Cultural notes on conflict and its resolution in West Timor', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 75-91.
- McWilliam, A, Robinson, K & Curnow, J 2007, 'Local cooperatives and microfinance in eastern Indonesia: Autonomy and opportunity for community economies', Development Bulletin (Canberra), vol. 72, pp. 14-18.
- McWilliam, A 2006, 'Fataluku forest tenures and the Conis Santana National Park (East Timor)', in Thomas Reuter (ed.), Sharing the earth, dividing the land: Land and territory in the Austronesian world, ANU ePress, Canberra, pp. 253-275.
- McWilliam, A 2006, 'Historical reflections on customary land rights in Indonesia', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 45-64.
- Robinson, K & McWilliam, A 2006, 'Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) in Indonesia: Action research and the diverse economies of Buton and Ngada (Flores)', Masyarakat Indonesia: Majalah Ilmu-Ilmu Sosial Indonesia, vol. XXX11, no. 2, pp. 31-54.
- McWilliam, A 2005, 'Absence and Plenitude: Appropriating the Fitzmaurice River frontier', in Deborah Bird Rose and Richard Davis (ed.), Dislocating the Frontier: Essaying the mystique of the outback, ANU ePress, Canberra Australia, pp. 175-193.
- Fitzpatrick, D & McWilliam, A 2005, 'Waiting for law: Land custom and legal regulation in Timor-Leste', Development Bulletin (Canberra), vol. 68, pp. 58-61.
- McWilliam, A 2005, 'Haumeni? Not Many: Renewed plunder and mismanagement in the Timorese Sandalwood Industry', Modern Asian Studies, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 285-320.
- McWilliam, A 2005, 'Houses of resistance in East Timor: Structuring sociality in the new nation', Anthropological Forum, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 27-44.
- Robinson, K, Gibson, K, McKay, D, & A. McWilliam 2004, 'Negotiating alternative economic strategies for regional development', Development Bulletin (Canberra), vol. 65, pp. 46-50.
- McWilliam, A 2003, 'New beginnings in East Timorese forest management', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol. 34, no. 2, pp. 307-327.
- McWilliam, A 2003, 'Timorese seascapes: perspectives on customary marine tenures in East Timor', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 6-32.
- McWilliam, A 2002, Paths of origin: gates of life, a study of place and precedence in Southwest Timor, KITLV Press, Leiden, The Netherlands.
- McWilliam, A 2002, 'Re-figuring Bradshaw: art, place and landscape in the Victoria River District', Australian Aboriginal Studies, vol. 1, pp. 2-12.
- McWilliam, A 2001, Indonesian water supply and sanitation sector strategy 2001-2010, AusAID, Canberra.
- McWilliam, A 2001, Anthropological assessment of claims of Werat/Werak peoples traditional ownership to the Lower Daly River Land Claim, Northern Land Council.
- McWilliam, A 2001, Old Timbaks Legacy, Malak Malak/Madngele traditional owners of the Daly River Land Trust. Report to the Northern Land Council
- McWilliam, A 2001, 'Prospects for the sacred grove: valuing lulic forests on Timor', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, The, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 89-113.
- McWilliam, A 2000, 'A plague on your house? Some impacts of chromolaena odorata on Timorese livelihoods', Human Ecology (Journal), vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 451-469.
- McWilliam, A 1999, 'Fire and cultural burning in Nusa Tenggara Timur: some implications of fire management practices for Indonesian government policy', Fire and sustainable agricultural and forestry development in Eastern Indonesia and Northern Australia, ed. Russell-Smith, Jeremy; Hill, Greg; Djoeroemana, Siliwoloe; Myers, Bronwyn, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Canberra, pp. 80-85.
- McWilliam A. 1999 From Lord of the Earth to Village Head: Adapting to the Nation State in West Timor. BKI v155(1) 121-144
Projects and Grants
Grants are drawn from ARIES. To add Projects or Grants please contact your College Research Office.
- Spiritual Ecologies and Customary Governance in Post-conflict East Timor (Primary Investigator)
- ANU Partnership with UPNG School of Business and Public Policy (Secondary Investigator)
- Being Muslim in Eastern Indonesia: practice, politics and cultural diversity (Secondary Investigator)
- Cultural and Environmental Shifts in Late Holocene East Timor: Evidence for Climate Change? (Secondary Investigator)
- Waiting For Law: Land, Custom and Legal Regulation in East Timor (Primary Investigator)
- Negotiating Alternative Economic Strategies for Regional Development in Indonesia and the Philippines (Secondary Investigator)
