Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement: The Origins of Americas Debate on East Timor [Hardcover]

Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement: The Origins of Americas Debate on East Timor examines the campaigns by people in the United States on behalf of those seeking peace for East Timor. The diplomatic work of voluntary advisors and supporters living in the United States in the early years of the movement have not been thoroughly explored until now. Through in-depth interviews with twenty activists and intellectuals involved in the East Timor movement from 1975-1999 and qualitative data analysis on information obtained from these interviews, this book explores momentum and turning points as perceptions in the minds of individual movement actors. The author takes readers through a combination of historical events that shaped social movement actors' attitudes and started a social movement momentum sequence in 1995. The East Timor All Inclusive Dialogue, the Timorization of Indonesia, the public outcries, organizational evolution, and a number of other turning points in the movement represented a series of successes that led to East Timor's independence.Shane Gunderson is adjunct professor in communication arts at Florida International University, adjunct professor at Miami Dade College, and visiting professor at DeVry University.

Shane Gunderson. . . .meticulously uncovers who the movers and shakers were within a global network of advocates centered on bringing attention to injustices perpetrated by Indonesia in the former Portuguese colony of East Timor and the international acquiescence or support for that occupation. . . .Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement is a worth-while read. . . .Gunderson competently tells the story of a band of activists operating diligently toward that singular goal in a new and comprehensive way. MCU Journal

Shane Gunderson has done a superb work on the solidarity action on Timor-Leste...a tribute to the many people in the U.S. who took part in the wider, world-wide solidarity movement thalCh