Professor Andrew McWilliam

Adjunct Professor - School of Social Sciences,
Dean's Unit, School of Social Sciences

Professor of Anthropology,
Anthropology & Sociology

Biography
Contact
Publications
Projects
Supervision
Teaching
Media

Biography

Dr Andrew McWilliam is a specialist in the anthropology of Insular Southeast Asia and was worked extensively in Indonesia and East Timor. I also maintain active applied research interests in Northern Australia with a focus on native title and indigenous cultural heritage. I am editor of The Australia Journal of Anthropology (TAJA) and Discipline leader for Anthropology at Western Sydney University.

This information has been contributed by Professor McWilliam.

Professional Memberships

Australian Anthropological Society (2007 - 2022)
Australian Institute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (2010 - 2022)

Organisational Unit (School / Division)

Dean's Unit, School of Social Sciences
Anthropology & Sociology

Contact

Email:	A.McWilliam@westernsydney.edu.au
Phone:	(02) 9772 6332
Mobile:
Location:	3.8.11

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Teaching

Previous Teaching Areas

102348 Power as a Cultural System, 2021

Publications

Books

McCarthy, J., McWilliam, A. and Nooteboom, G. (2023), 'The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia', : NUS Press 9789813251830.
McWilliam, A. (2020), 'Post-Conflict Social and Economic Recovery in Timor-Leste: Redemptive Legacies', : Routledge 9780367366681.
O'Connor, S., McWilliam, A. and Brockwell, S. (2020), 'Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Investigations', : ANU Press 9781760463885.
McWilliam, A. and Leach, M. (2019), 'Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Timor-Leste', : Routledge 9781138654563.
Ingram, S., Kent, L. and McWilliam, A. (2015), 'A New Era?: Timor-Leste After the UN', : Australian National University Press 9781925022506.
Fitzpatrick, D., McWilliam, A. and Barnes, S. (2012), 'Property and Social Resilience in Times of Conflict: Land, Custom and Law in East Timor', : Ashgate 9781409453819.
McWilliam, A. and Traube, E. (2011), 'Land and Life in Timor-Leste: Ethnographic Essays', : ANU E Press 9781921862595.
McWilliam, A. (2002), 'Paths of Origin, Gates of Life: A Study of Place and Precedence in Southwest Timor', : Brill 9789067181983.

Chapters in Books

McCarthy, J., Nooteboom, G. and McWilliam, A. (2023), 'Understanding agrarian change : scenarios of agricultural development, income diversification, food poverty and nutritional insecurity in Indonesia', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251830.
McCarthy, J., Nooteboom, G. and McWilliam, A. (2023), 'Agrarian scenarios and nutritional security in Indonesia', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251830.
McWilliam, A., McCarthy, J., Nooteboom, G. and Talib, N. (2023), 'Social protection and the challenge of poverty in Indonesia', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251830.
McWilliam, A., Wianti, N. and Taufik, Y. (2023), 'Sustaining livelihoods from the seas : Sama Bajo vulnerabilities and resilience', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 97898132511830.
McCarthy, J., McWilliam, A., Nooteboom, G., Kutanegara, P., Purba, R., Sitorus, H., Vel, J., Warren, C. and Woodward, L. (2023), 'Agrarian change and social assistance outcomes', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251830.
McCarthy, J., McWilliam, A. and Nooteboom, G. (2023), 'Conclusions and implications : paradoxes of agrarian change and social protection', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251830.
McCarthy, J., McWilliam, A., Warren, C., Budianto, V., Hadi, S., Kutanegara, P., Maliati, N., Makambombu, S., Nooteboom, G., Sitorus, H., Vel, J., Winarto, Y. and Woodward, L. (2023), 'Epilogue : the COVID-19 pandemic, changing agrarian scenarios and social assistance', The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251830.
McWilliam, A. (2023), 'Refashioning Fataluku origin houses', Economic Diversity in Contemporary Timor-Leste, Leiden University Press 9789087283957.
O'Connor, S., McWilliam, A. and Brockwell, S. (2020), 'Forts and fortifications in Wallacea', Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations, ANU Press 9781760463885.
O'Connor, S., Bulbeck, D., Amano, N., Piper, P., Brockwell, S., McWilliam, A., Fenner, J., O?Connor-Veth, J., Whitau, R., Maloney, T., Langley, M., Litster, M., Lankton, J., Gratuze, B., Dickinson, W., Barham, A. and Willan, R. (2020), 'The fortified settlement of Macapainara, Lautem District, Timor-Leste', Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations, ANU Press 9781760463885.
Brockwell, S., O?Connor, S., Fenner, J., McWilliam, A., Amano, N., Piper, P., Bulbeck, D., Litster, M., Whitau, R., O?Connor-Veth, J., Maloney, T., Cameron, J., Willan, R. and Dickinson, W. (2020), 'Excavations at the site of Vasino, Lautem District, Timor-Leste', Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations, ANU Press 9781760463885.
Fenner, J., Litster, M., Maloney, T., Lim, T., Hawkins, S., Gaffey, P., Brockwell, S., McWilliam, A., Pannell, S., Willan, R. and O?Connor, S. (2020), 'The site of Leki Wakik, Manatuto District, Timor-Leste', Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations, ANU Press 9781760463885.
McWilliam, A. (2020), 'Social drivers of fortified settlements in Timor-Leste', Forts and Fortification in Wallacea: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Investigations, ANU Press 9781760463885.
McWilliam, A. (2020), 'Being Muslim in Eastern Indonesia : contemporary patterns of Islamic practice', Mosques and Imams: Everyday Islam in Eastern Indonesia, NUS Press 9789813251205.
McWilliam, A. and Leach, M. (2019), 'Timor-Leste : historical legacies and contemporary challenges', Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Timor-Leste, Routledge 9781138654563.
McWilliam, A. and Monteiro, C. (2019), 'On Brexit worries : migration and remittance landscapes in Timor-Leste', Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Timor-Leste, Routledge 9781138654563.
McWilliam, A. and Shepherd, C. (2019), 'Reading against the grain : ethnography, commercial agriculture and the colonial archive of East Timor ', Crossing Histories and Ethnographies: Following Colonial Historicities in Timor-Leste, Berghahn Books 9781789202717.
Beavis, S. and McWilliam, A. (2018), 'Muddy rivers and toxic flows : risks and impacts of artisanal gold-mining in the riverine catchments of Bombana, Southeast Sulawesi (Indonesia)', Between the Plough and the Pick: Informal, Artisanal and Small-scale Mining in the Contemporary World, ANU Press 9781760461713.
McWilliam, A. (2018), 'Afterword : a study in contrasts', The Promise of Prosperity: Visions of the future in Timor-Leste, ANU Press 9781760462529.
McWilliam, A. (2017), 'Hunting and harvesting the commons : on the cultural politics of custom', Transformations in Independent Timor-Leste: Dynamics of Social and Cultural Cohabitations, Routledge 9781138691438.
McWilliam, A. (2017), 'Imagining ethnography : reflections on fieldwork in Lautem', Fieldwork in Timor-Leste: Understanding Social Change through Practice, NIAS Press 9788776942083.
Robinson, K. and McWilliam, A. (2015), 'Striving for good practice : unpacking AusAID's approach to community development', Making a Difference?: Social Assessment Policy and Praxis and its Emergence in China, Berghahn Books 9781782384571.
McWilliam, A., Lopes, M., Glazebrook, D., Costa, M. and Ximenes, A. (2015), 'Seeds of life : social research for improved farmer yields in Timor-Leste', Making a Difference?: Social Assessment Policy and Praxis and its Emergence in China, Berghahn Books 9781782384571.
McWilliam, A. (2015), ' Rural-urban inequalities and migration in Timor-Leste', A New Era?: Timor-Leste after the UN, ANU Press 9781925022506.
Ingram, S., Kent, L. and McWilliam, A. (2015), 'Introduction : building the nation : legacies and challenges for Timor-Leste', A New Era?: Timor-Leste After the UN, ANU E Press 9781925022506.
Shepherd, C. and McWilliam, A. (2014), 'Divide and cultivate : plantations, militarism and environment in Portuguese Timor, 1860-1975', Comparing Apples, Oranges, and Cotton: Environmental Histories of the Global Plantation, Campus Verlag 9783593500287.
McWilliam, A. (2013), 'Cultural heritage and its performative modalities : imagining the Nino Konis Santana National Park in East Timor', Transcending the Culture-Nature Divide in Cultural Heritage: Views from the Asia-Pacific Region, ANU Press 9781922144041.
McWilliam, A. (2011), 'Fataluku living landscapes', Land and Life in Timor-Leste: Ethnographic Essays, ANU Press 9781921862595.
McWilliam, A. and Traube, E. (2011), 'Land and Life in Timor-Leste : introduction', Land and Life in Timor-Leste: Ethnographic Essays, ANU E Press 9781921862595.
McWilliam, A. (2009), 'Trunk and tip in West Timor : precedence in a botanical idiom', Precedence: Social Differentiation in the Austronesian World, Australian National University E Press 9781921536465.
McWilliam, A. (2008), 'Customary governance in Timor-Leste', Democratic Governance in Timor-Leste: Reconciling the Local and the National, Charles Darwin University Press 9780980457834.

Journal Articles

Wu, A. and McWilliam, A. (2023), 'Remittances for marriage : quality of life changes among seasonal worker households in Timor-Leste', Australian Geographer, vol 54, no 2 , pp 193 - 212.
Wianti, N. and McWilliam, A. (2023), 'Sama Bajo resilience in the time of COVID', Oceania, vol 93, no 2 , pp 179 - 190.
McWilliam, A. (2022), 'Distilling livelihoods in Timor-Leste : Fataluku ecologies of practice', Human Ecology, vol 50, no 4 , pp 606 - 615.
McWilliam, A. (2022), 'Making money, missing home : reflections on Timorese informal labour migration to Britain', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, vol 23, no 3 , pp 266 - 285.
McWilliam, A., Wianti, N. and Taufik, Y. (2021), 'Poverty and prosperity among Sama Bajo fishing communities (Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia)', Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, vol 42, no 1 , pp 132 - 148.
Butler, J., Davila, F., Alders, R., Bourke, R., Crimp, S., McCarthy, J., McWilliam, A., Palo, A., Robins, L., Webb, M., Van Wensveen, M., Sanderson, T. and Walker, D. (2021), 'A rapid assessment framework for food system shocks : lessons learned from COVID-19 in the Indo-Pacific region', Environmental Science and Policy, vol 117 , pp 34 - 45.
Davila, F., Bourke, R., McWilliam, A., Crimp, S., Robins, L., Van Wensveen, M., Alders, R. and Butler, J. (2021), 'COVID-19 and food systems in Pacific Island countries, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste : opportunities for actions towards the sustainable development goals', Agricultural Systems, vol 191 .
McWilliam, A., Wasson, R., Rouwenhorst, J. and Amaral, A. (2020), 'Disaster Risk Reduction, modern science and local knowledge : perspectives from Timor-Leste', International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, vol 50 .
McWilliam, A. (2019), 'Nationalism at scale in Timor-Leste : between Rai na'in and Rai Timor', Bulletin of the National Museum of Ethnology, vol 43, no 3 , pp 301 - 315.
McWilliam, A. (2019), 'Stone archives and fortified histories in Timor-Leste', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, vol 20, no 3 , pp 247 - 260.
McWilliam, A. and Monteiro, C. (2019), 'Fataluku labor migration and transnational care in Timor-Leste', Indonesia, vol 107 , pp 41 - 54.
Palmer, L. and McWilliam, A. (2019), 'Spirit ecologies and customary governance in post-conflict Timor-Leste', Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol 175, no 4 , pp 474 - 505.
Gibson, K., Astuti, R., Carnegie, M., Chalernphon, A., Dombroski, K., Haryani, A., Hill, A., Kehi, B., Law, L., Lyne, I., McGregor, A., McKinnon, K., McWilliam, A., Miller, F., Ngin, C., Occena-Gutierrez, D., Palmer, L., Placino, P., Rampengan, M., Than, W., Wianti, N. and Wright, S. (2018), 'Community economies in Monsoon Asia : keywords and key reflections', Asia Pacific Viewpoint, vol 59, no 1 , pp 3 - 16.
Palmer, L. and McWilliam, A. (2018), 'Ambivalent 'indigeneities' in independent Timor-Leste : between the customary and national governance of resources', Asia Pacific Viewpoint, vol 59, no 3 , pp 265 - 275.
Steenbergen, D., Clifton, J., Visser, L., Stacey, N. and McWilliam, A. (2017), 'Understanding influences in policy landscapes for sustainable coastal livelihoods', Marine Policy, vol 82 , pp 181 - 188.
McWilliam, A. and Neale, J. (2015), 'Reflections on a native title anthropology field school', AIATSIS Research Discussion Paper, vol 36 .
McWilliam, A., Palmer, L. and Shepherd, C. (2014), 'Lulik encounters and cultural frictions in East Timor : past and present', Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol 25, no 3 , pp 304 - 320.
Fitzpatrick, D. and McWilliam, A. (2013), 'Bright-line fever : simple legal rules and complex property customs among the Fataluku of East Timor', Law and Society Review, vol 47, no 2 , pp 311 - 343.
Shepherd, C. and McWilliam, A. (2013), 'Cultivating plantations and subjects in East Timor : a genealogy', Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, vol 169, no 2-3 , pp 326 - 361.
O'Connor, S., McWilliam, A., Fenner, J. and Brockwell, S. (2012), 'Examining the origin of fortifications in East Timor : social and environmental factors', Journal of Island and Coastal Archaeology, vol 7, no 2 , pp 200 - 218.
McWilliam, A., Bulbeck, D., Brockwell, S. and O'Connor, S. (2012), 'The cultural legacy of Makassar stone in East Timor', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, vol 13, no 3 , pp 262 - 279.
McWilliam, A. (2012), 'New Fataluku diasporas and landscapes of remittance and return', Local-Global: Identity, Security, Community, vol 11 , pp 72 - 85.
Mcwilliam, A. (2011), 'Exchange and resilience in Timor-Leste', Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol 17, no 4 , pp 745 - 763.
McWilliam, A. (2011), 'Marginal governance in the time of pemekaran : case studies from Sulawesi and West Papua', Asian Journal of Social Science, vol 39, no 2 , pp 150 - 170.
Shepherd, C. and McWilliam, A. (2011), 'Ethnography, agency, and materiality : anthropological perspectives on rice development in East Timor', East Asian Science, Technology and Society, vol 5, no 2 , pp 189 - 215.
McWilliam, A. (2009), 'The spiritual commons : some immaterial aspects of community economies in eastern Indonesia', Australian Journal of Anthropology, vol 20, no 2 , pp 163 - 177.
McWilliam, A. (2008), 'Fataluku healing and cultural resilience in East Timor', Ethnos, vol 73, no 2 , pp 217 - 240.
McWilliam, A. and Bexley, A. (2008), 'Performing politics : the 2007 parliamentary elections in Timor Leste', Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, vol 9, no 1 , pp 66 - 82.
McWilliam, A. (2007), 'Austronesians in linguistic disguise : Fataluku cultural fusion in East Timor', Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, vol 38, no 2 , pp 355 - 375.
McWilliam, A. (2007), 'Harbouring traditions in East Timor : marginality in a lowland entrepot', Modern Asian Studies, vol 41, no 6 , pp 1113 - 1143.
McWilliam, A. (2007), 'Looking for Ade : a contribution to Timorese historiography', Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, vol 163, no 2-3 , pp 221 - 238.

Other Publications

2020, 'COVID-19 and Food Systems in the Indo-Pacific: An Assessment of Vulnerabilities, Impacts and Opportunities for Action', Report

I have recently finalised an ARC funded collaborative project entitled; Household Vulnerability and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia (2015-2020). The study explored the impact and effectiveness of Indonesian welfare policy and programs designed to target and alleviate poverty across the archipelago. My field research for this activity was focused on several Sama Bajo (maritime oriented) communities in Southeast Sulawesi. An Edited Volume on the outcomes of the study was published in 2023, see John McCarthy, Andrew McWilliam and Gerben Nooteboom (eds) The Paradox of Agrarian Change: Food Security and the Politics of Social Protection in Indonesia, Singapore, NUS Press. I have also completed a second ARC research project entitled, Spiritual Ecologies and the role of Customary Governance in Timor-Leste (2016-2021). The study, undertaken in conjunction with Prof Lisa Palmer (UniMelb) builds on earlier ethnographic work to examine the dynamics of a widespread ‘return to custom’ that connects the everyday practices of ancestral house communities with the complex ecologies upon which people's livelihoods and well-being depend. A series of publications have resulted from this work including, McWilliam A, 2020 Post-Conflict Social and Economic Recovery in Timor-Leste: Redemptive Legacies, Routledge. Current research includes an ARC Linkage project with colleagues from Flinders University (2021-2024), exploring Timor-Leste migrant workers in Australia's seasonal workers programme, and the impact of cash savings and remittances on return to Timor-Leste.