Polynesian Agency and the Establishment of the French Centre for Pacific Tests

Abstract

ABSTRACT Since the 1960s, the installation of the Centre for Pacific Tests (Centre d’expérimentation du Pacifique or CEP) in French Polynesia has given rise to important debates concerning the agency of the populations in relationship to a decision on which they were not consulted. Until now, these debates have often focused on the reactions of the political class. In this article, we propose another approach to these issues by focusing on economic and social questions, with particular attention paid to the multiple strategies implemented by Polynesian workers. As this article demonstrates, while local actors had no say in the decision to set up the CEP in French Polynesia, the actual process of infrastructure construction, the interactions induced by these activities and the transformation of local power relations constituted opportunities for Islanders to develop their own strategies based on their interests and desires, their opinions, and the constraints that weighed unequally on them.