The modern origins of traditional agriculture: Colonial policy, swidden development, and environmental degradation in eastern Timor

Abstract

The origin of swidden systems is typically portrayed as a pre-colonial, pre-nationalist, and pre-developmentalist tradition, subsequently interrupted and eroded by colonial exploitation and post-colonial technoscience in favour of market agriculture. A recent counter-position to this 'anteriority model' presents swidden systems as reactionary 'refuge agriculture' in search of remote locations to circumvent state accountability (Scott 2009). A third model traces swidden agricultural processes as a 'dual economy' of both subsistence and commodity production. This article examines these approaches through a study of maize and rice in eastern (Portuguese) Timor, where a particular type of enviro..