Sovereignty as interconnection in Oceania? Perspectives from Kanaky/New Caledonia

Abstract

This article argues that a conception of sovereignty at the intersection of Kanak and Western sociopolitical modalities could have ocean-wide implications for the Pacific region. It analyses some of the complex ways in which the concept of sovereignty has been articulated in the New Caledonian cultural and political domains since the 1970s, with a focus on two cultural events (the 1975 Melanesia 2000 festival and the Mwâ Kâ initiative from 2003) and the 1998 political agreement, the Noumea Accord. The analysis illuminates ‘decentred’ understandings of sovereignty, conceived in terms of interconnections and interdependencies, and in terms of the definition and respect of differentiated but coexisting legitimacies, rights and roles. Such a (re)conception of sovereignty encourages us to reflect further on the potential meaning and implications of the Pacific Ocean as an interconnected and interdependent ‘sea of islands’ (Hau’ofa 1993).