「カナク人民」の誕生: ニュー・カレドニア脱植民地化過程にみる共和主義の変容

Abstract

This article describes administrative change of one of French overseas territories. Major concern is laid on Noumea Accord, which introduced separate status for indigenous people. The transition in the institutional framework of French Overseas Territories in recent years has shown that pluralism has been recognized as a valid principle, which has been regarded as a discredit to republican principle, one and indivisible. There has been a shift from an institutional norm in which preference for uniformity and unity took precedence over regional diversity, to a new priority for the designing of institutional frameworks to be suitable for the particularity of 3outre-mer2 societies, and to include the realities of each community situated far from Paris, which nonetheless remains the decision making centre.France has controlled the Melanesians of New Caledonia with a special status called 3statut local particulier2. This separated French citizenship from indigenous Melanesians. The constitution of Fourth Republic reserved customs as social norm for Melanesians that had differentiated civil rights among people living in New Caledonia, but without recognizing their autonomy.The Noumea Accord signed between representatives of major communities of New Caledonia and the French government in 1998 recognizes the Kanak people, Melanesians of New Caledonia, as the native population and Kanak identity within the political organization of New Caledonia and offers institutionally the process of eventual accession of full sovereignty for the first time. This meant the official recognition of Kanak identity with its customary status and customary law. Based on this accord, affirmative actions for particular ethnic groups were introduced. This series of administrative reforms created a new concept, 2shared sovereignty (souverainte partagee) 2. The article concludes that French unitary system faces the challenge from periphery, and suggests this accord is a major step toward multicultural France.