ABSTRACT

This chapter explores two interpretations of the role of conflict resolution in the making of the person in Timor-Leste based on a four-year research in a village of the Liquica District. It presents the specificities of what a person is in Timor-Leste by pointing out the importance of reciprocity, debt networks and their public display in constructing a person's dignity. The chapter argues that local forms of conflict resolution are an opportunity to promote the recognition of someone's position and worth within gift and debt networks. It describes the prolonged conflict between two Lisadila brothers-in-law. The chapter explores their refusal to accept the various attempts to put an end to the dispute through the mediation of local authorities and relatives, so as to show what is at stake in the game of dispute maintenance. It proposes that interpersonal conflicts are essential in the construction of personhood.