The geopolitical ecology of New Caledonia: territorial re-ordering, mining, and Indigenous economic development

Matthias Kowasch,Simon Batterbury,Séverine Bouard

doi:10.2458/v27i1.23812

Matthias Kowasch, Simon Batterbury + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.2458/v27i1.23812

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Abstract

In the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, conflict and difference between Indigenous Kanak people and European settlers has existed at least since the 1850s. We interrogate the geopolitical ecology of these islands, which is deeply wedded to natural resource extraction, is instrumentalized in political debate, power struggles, conflict, and the mining sector. Territoriality, including changes to political borders and access to land, has promoted the interests of the key actors in shaping the future of the islands. Violence in the 1980s was followed by the Matignon Accords (1988) and three provinces were established (North, South, Loyalty Islands). The South Province is governed by a party loyal to France, and the others are in the hands of the Indigenous Kanak independence movement seeking full decolonization and independence. The strengthened regional autonomy that emerged from the creation of provinces has permitted the Kanak-dominated ones to control certain political competencies as well as to guide economic development much more strongly than in other settler states, notably through a large nickel mining project in the North Province. Provincialization has not diminished ethnic divisions as French interests hoped, as signaled by voting in the close-run but unsuccessful 2018 referendum on independence from France. We explore the ironies of these efforts at territorial re-ordering, which are layered on significant spatial and racial disparities. Re-bordering has enabled resurgence of Kanak power in ways unanticipated by the architects of the Accords, but without a guarantee of eventual success.Key Words: New Caledonia, geopolitical ecology, politics of mining, decolonization, Kanak identity

Highlights

Imagine if almost half the population of Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States were indigenous today, as the Kanak are in New Caledonia
We outline in detail the complexities of Kanaky/New Caledonia's experiences with colonization and decolonization, which have culminated in recent years with turning Indigenous control of territory into economic development activity based on natural resource wealth
We argue that the geopolitical importance of the large nickel sector on the main island has colored the decolonization process – it is the central element of a New Caledonian geopolitical ecology

Summary

Introduction

Imagine if almost half the population of Australia, New Zealand, Canada or the United States were indigenous today, as the Kanak are in New Caledonia. The particularity of New Caledonia's history, and its importance in debates about territoriality and bordering is that in recent decades, the Indigenous Kanak minority have been able to turn natural resource wealth some way to their own advantage They have advanced their economic position somewhat further than many other Indigenous groups in settler states around the world. For the first time, witnessed African Americans and other minorities working as equals with white soldiers, and partly as a result of this visible difference to local norms, the code de l'indigénat was abolished just after the war ended This political change, combined with further growth of the nickel industry, saw a big increase in French government funds for economic development, and led to more Kanak moving to Nouméa and other towns, where they had not been allowed to live previously (Robertson 2021). The loyalist side hoped that economic development and a policy of spatial rebalancing (rééquilibrage) across the territory would lead the independence parties to see the benefits of remaining with France

Re-bordering and rebalancing policies as a vehicle for decolonization

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