Speaker: Kisho Tsuchiya (CSEAS, Kyoto University)

Discussant: Shintaro Fukutake (Faculty of Global Studies, Sophia University）

Moderator: Genta Kuno (CSEAS, Kyoto University)

Abstract: Kisho Tsuchiya’s recent book, Emplacing East Timor: Regime Change and Knowledge Production, 1860–2010, explores the correlations between violent regime change and knowledge production concerning modern (East) Timor. Through a multi-archival investigation, the book examines historical events, key individuals, policy debates, and both domestic and international discourses that have shaped our understanding of the country and its people. In this book talk, Tsuchiya not only outlines his problem setting, key questions, agenda, and findings but also shares insights into the creation of the book. Along this line, he discusses how his working experience in the United Nations’ mission in Timor-Leste and the exposure to Asian Studies in Singapore and the Philippines shaped the themes of the book.

Book Information: Kisho Tsuchiya, Emplacing East Timor: Regime Change and Knowledge Production, 1860–2010, University of Hawai’i Press, 2024.

Bio: Kisho Tsuchiya is an Assistant Professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University. He served on the United Nations’ Electoral Support Team from 2009–2010. He won the 2017 Patana Kitiarsa Prize from the American Association for Asian Studies for “Converting Tetun: The Early Missionary Texts in a Timorese Language and the Timorese Absent Presence 1875–1937.”