The purpose of this paper is to shed light on socio-economic changes in post-1999 East Timor, and to
elucidate the way in which human vulnerability emerged under the international state-building. This paper
draws attention to the ‘transitional gap of governance,’ or the emerging situation where neither state
institutions, nor kin-based community networks, function appropriately to protect the security and welfare
of individuals and families. While the legal and institutional framework of the new state has struggled to
penetrate the society, rapid socio-demographic changes weakened customary governance, which used to
thrive in kin-based communities of East Timor. It is in such a ‘gap of governance’ where people are left in
vulnerable circumstance and a new form of human insecurity emerges.
Since the late 2000s, the state-society relationship has become the centre of the debate in
literature. It was seen as critical to better understand the ‘success’ or ‘failure’ of international and national
efforts to realise sustainable peace in the country. Some commentators have criticised that international
statebuilding activities concentrated their focus on the capital city Dili and failed to account for the
significance of rural areas where more than 80 per cent of the population resided (Grenfell 2008; Matsuno
2008). Others have also argued that the modernist nature of legal and institutional frameworks ignored the
plurality of laws in East Timor and excluded customary governance that thrived at the grass-root level in
the country (Grenfell 2006; McWilliam 2008). While drawing upon the body of existing literature, this
paper emphasises the significance of the socio-demographic transition triggered by the economic changes
under the international statebuilding. Most importantly, this paper points out that weakening of kin-based
communities and support networks within the communities have led to a new form of vulnerability among
those who reside in urban areas.