The University of Arizona

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

Simon P.J. Batterbury, Matthias Kowasch, Séverine Bouard

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


Full Text:

PDF

References


Banks, G. 1996. Compensation for mining – benefit or time-bomb? The Porgera gold mine. In R. Howitt, with J. Connell and P. Hirsch (eds.). Resources, nations and Indigenous peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. 223-235.

Bensa, A. 1990. Nouvelle-Calédonie – vers l'émancipation. Paris. Découvertes Gallimard.

Bouard S., J.-M. Sourisseau and B. Zenou. 2014. Intégration/ségrégation: une clé de lecture des recompositions des modèles de développement? Le cas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Natures, Sciences, Sociétés 22(4): 305-316.

Bouard S., J.-M. Sourisseau, V. Geronimi, S. Blaise and L. Ro'i (eds.). 2016. La Nouvelle-Calédonie face à son destin. Quel bilan à la veille de la consultation sur la pleine souveraineté ? Paris: Karthala.

Bustos-Gallardo, B. and M. Prieto. 2019. Nuevas aproximaciones teóricas a las regiones-commodity desde la ecología política. Revista de Estudios Urbano Regionales 45(135): 153-176.

Chappell, D. 2003. The Kanak Awakening of 1969-1976: radicalizing anti-colonialism in New Caledonia. Journal de la Société des Océanistes 117(2): 187-202.

Chauvin, C. and J.-C. Gay. 2012. Les îles. In J. Banvallot and J.-C. Gay (eds.). Atlas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Montpellier: IRD Éditions. Pp. 239–246.

Connell, J. 1987. New Caledonia or Kanaky? The political history of a French colony. Pacific Research Monograph 16. Canberra: Australian National University.

David, C., J-M. Sourisseau, S. Gorohouna and P.-Y. Le Meur 2016. De Matignon à la consultation sur l'indépendance, une trajectoire politique et institutionnele originale. In S. Bouard, J.-M. Sourisseau, V. Geronimi, S. Blaise and L. Ro'i (eds.). La Nouvelle-Calédonie face à son destin. Quel bilan à la veille de la consultation sur la pleine souveraineté? Paris: Karthala. Pp. 23-68.

Demmer, C. and C. Salomon. 2013. Droit coutumier et indépendance Kanak. Vacarme 64: 63–78.

Douglas, B. 1991. Winning and losing? Reflections on the war of 1878-79 in New Caledonia. The Journal of Pacific History 26(2): 213-233.

Elden, S. 2019. Territory/territoriality. In A.M. Orum (ed.). Wiley-Blackwell encyclopedia of urban and regional studies. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.

Escobar, A. 2016. Thinking-feeling with the Earth: territorial struggles and the ontological dimension of the epistemologies of the South. Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana 11(1): 11-32.

Escobar, A. 2018. Designs for the pluriverse: radical interdependence, autonomy, and the making of worlds. Durham: Duke University Press.

Fisher, D. 2021. New Caledonia's self-determination process. In M. Kowasch and S.P.J. Batterbury (eds). The geography of New Caledonia/Kanaky. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Forrest, M. and M. Kowasch 2016. New Caledonia and/or Kanaky: on the way to political independence? Pacific Geographies 46: 4-10.

Gagné, N. 2021. Indigenous rights or national independence? Paths of self-determination in New Caledonia. In M. Kowasch and S.P.J. Batterbury (eds). The geography of New Caledonia and Kanaky. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Gorohouna, S. 2011. Dynamiques des inégalités dans un pays pluri-ethnique – Le cas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. PhD Thesis in Economics. Paris: University of Paris 1 Panthéon.

Gouvernement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. 2009. Le schéma de mise en valeur des richesses minières de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Online: https://dimenc.gouv.nc/sites/default/files/download/2009-05_schema_mise_en_valeur_des_richesses_minieres_nc.pdf.

Graff, S. 2012. Quand combat et revendications kanak ou politique de l'État français manient indépendance, décolonisation, autodétermination et autochtonie en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Journal de la Société des Océanistes. 134(1): 61-83.

Horowitz, L.S. 2012. Translation alignment: Actor-Network Theory, resistance, and the power dynamics of alliance in New Caledonia. Antipode 44(3): 806-827.

ISEE 2020. Recensement 2019: publication des premiers résultats! Online: http://www.isee.nc/population/recensement.

ISEE 2016. Tableau de l'économie calédonienne. Nouméa: Artypo.

Haut-Commissariat de la Nouvelle-Calédonie 2018. Référendum: retrouvez ici les résultats définitifs de la consultation du 4 novembre 2018. Online: http://www.nouvelle-caledonie.gouv.fr/Actualites/Referendum-Retrouvez-ici-les-resultats-definitifs-de-la-consultation-du-4-novembre-2018.

Jaffre, T., P. Bouchet and J.M. Veillon 1997. Threatened plants of New Caledonia: is the system of protected areas adequate? Biodiversity and Conservation 7: 109-135.

Kier, G., H. Kreft, T. Ming Lee, W. Jetz, P. Ibisch, C. Nowicki, J. Mutke and W. Barthlott. 2009. A global assessment of endemism and species richness across island and mainland regions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106(23): 9322-9327.

Kohler, J.-M. and P. Pillon 1986. Économie domestique et développement. L'opération Café. Nouméa: ORSTOM.

Kowasch, M. 2012a. Le développement de l'industrie du nickel et la transformation de la valeur environnementale en Nouvelle Calédonie. Journal of Political Ecology 19: 202-220.

Kowasch M. 2012b. La zone Voh-Koné-Pouembout. In J. Banvallot and J.-C. Gay (eds.). Atlas de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Montpellier: IRD Éditions. Pp. 51–54.

Kowasch, M. 2017. Social and environmental transformations in the neighbourhood of a nickel mining project: a case study from Northern New Caledonia. In C. Filer and P.-Y. Le Meur (eds.). Large-scale mines and local-level politics – between New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. Canberra: ANU Press. Pp. 99-131.

Kowasch, M. 2018. Nickel mining in northern New Caledonia – a path to sustainable development? Journal of Geochemical Exploration 194: 280–290.

Kowasch, M. and J. Merlin 2021. Conflicts and the politics of neutrality in environmental organizations facing mining projects in New Caledonia. In M. Kowasch and S.P.J. Batterbury (eds.). The geography of New Caledonia/Kanaky. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Kowasch, M., S.P.J. Batterbury and M. Neumann 2015. Contested sites, land claims and economic development in Poum, New Caledonia. Settler Colonial Studies 5(4): 302–316.

Leblic, I. 2007. Café, développement et autochtonie en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Études Rurales 180: 117-130.

Leblic, I. 2018. Vote indépendantiste en progression et excellent résultat au référendum. Mediapart 4 November. AISDPK (Association Information et Soutien aux Droits du Peuple Kanak – défend la liberté de ce peuple colonisé à s'autodéterminer). Online: https://blogs.mediapart.fr/aisdpk-kanaky/blog/041118/vote-independantiste-en-progression-et-excellent-resultat-au-referendum.

Le Meur, P.-Y. 2017. Conflict and agreement: the politics of nickel in Thio, New Caledonia. In Filer, C. and P.-Y. Le Meur (eds.). Large-scale mines and local-level politics: between New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. Canberra: ANU Press. Pp. 157-182.

Lund, C. and T. Sikor 2009. The politics of possession. In C. Lund and T. Sikor (eds.). Access and property: a question of power and authority. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. Pp. 1–22.

Mathieu, L., C. Couharde and G. Pestana 2016. Cadrage macroéconomique et faits stylisés. In S. Bouard, J.-M. Sourisseau, V. Geronimi, S. Blaise and L. Ro'i (eds.). La Nouvelle-Calédonie face à son destin. Quel bilan à la veille de la consultation sur la pleine souveraineté? Paris: Karthala. Pp. 69-110.

Merle, I. 1993. La Nouvelle-Calédonie 1853-1920. Naissance d'une société coloniale. Les Cahiers du Centre de Recherches Historiques 11: 1-9.

Merle, I. 2000. De l'idée de cantonnement à la constitution des réserves. La définition de la propriété indigène. In Bensa, A. and I. Leblic (eds.). En pays kanak: ethnologie, linguistique, archéologie, histoire de la Nouvelle Calédonie. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l'homme. Pp. 217-234.

Merle, I. 2013. La Nouvelle-Calédonie, terre d'expériences coloniales. Hermès 2013/1(65): 50-51.

Merle, I. and A. Muckle 2019. L'Indigénat – genèses dans l'empire français, pratiques en Nouvelle Calédonie. Paris: CNRS Éditions.

Miller F.P. and A. McGregor 2019. Rescaling political ecology? World regional approaches to climate change in the Asia Pacific. Progress in Human Geography 4(4): 663-682.

Mokkadem, H. 2013. Kanaky ou Nouvelle-Calédonie, souveraineté et independence dans l’ère post-coloniale. Revue Asylon(s) 11: 1-23.

Nacci, D. 2015. Calédonickel – natural resource curse. Caledonickel blog, Retrieved from https://caledonickel.wordpress.com/2015/10/22/natural-resource-curse/.

Naepels, M. 1998. Histoires de terres kanak. Paris: Éditions Belin.

Naepels, M. 2006. Réforme foncière et propriété dans la région de Houaïlou (Nouvelle-Calédonie). Études Rurales 117: 43–54.

NC 1ière 2015. Le FLNKS valide sa "doctrine nickel" 19 January. Online: https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/nouvellecaledonie/2015/01/19/le-flnks-valide-sa-doctrine-nickel-222646.html

Nirmal, P. and D. Rocheleau. 2019. Decolonizing degrowth in the post-development convergence: questions, experiences, and proposals from two Indigenous territories. Environmental and Planning E: Nature and Space 2(3): 443–470.

Pitoiset, A. and C. Wéry 2008. Mystère Dang. Nouméa: Le Rayon Vert.

Poady, C.A., C. Ouetcho, A. Stastny and M. Kowasch 2021. Kanak cultural heritage on colonised, damaged lands: language, the straw and the Kanak House in Paici Cemuki and Drubea-Kapumë countries. In M. Kowasch and S.P.J. Batterbury (eds). The geography of New Caledonia/Kanaky. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Robertson, S. 2021. The citizenship dilemma in decolonising New Caledonia. In M. Kowasch and S.P.J. Batterbury (eds.). The geography of New Caledonia/Kanaky. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Rodary, E. 2021. Which environment to protect in New Caledonia? In M. Kowasch and S.P.J. Batterbury (eds.). The geography of New Caledonia/Kanaky. Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer.

Saussol, A. 1988. The colonial chimera: from annexation to the re-emergence of Kanak identity. In M. Spencer, A. Ward and J. Connell (eds.). New Caledonia: essays in nationalism and dependency. St Lucia: University of Queensland Press. Pp. 38-55.

Scheiner, C. 2015. Can the Petroleum Fund exorcise the resource curse from Timor-Leste? In S. Ingram, L. Kent and A. McWilliam (eds.). A new era? Timor-Leste after the UN. Canberra: ANU Press. Pp. 73-101.

Sourisseau J.M., B. Geronimi and S. Bouard. 2016. La Nouvelle-Calédonie dans les turbulences du XXIe siècle. In S. Bouard, J.-M. Sourisseau, V. Geronimi, S. Blaise and L. Ro'i (eds.). La Nouvelle-Calédonie face à son destin: quel bilan à la veille de la consultation sur la pleine souveraineté? Paris: Karthala. Pp. 449-484.

Stastny, A. 2018. Le référendum pour l'indépendance de la Nouvelle-Calédonie ne consiste pas en un processus de décolonisation. Le Monde 1 November. Retrieved from: https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2018/11/01/le-referendum-pour-l-independance-de-la-nouvelle-caledonie-ne-consiste-pas-en-un-processus-de-decolonization_5377731_3232.html.

(UN) United Nations 2019. The United Nations and decolonization. Retrieved from: https://www.un.org/dppa/decolonization/en/nsgt

UNESCO 2020. Lagoons of New Caledonia: reef diversity and associated ecosystems. Retrieved from: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1115/.

Usher, M. 2019. Territory incognita. Progress in Human Geography. https://doi.org/10.1177/0309132519879492

Vivier, J.-L. 2009. Calédonie, l'heure des choix. Paris: L'Harmattan.

Waddell, E. 2008. Jean-Marie Tjibaou, Kanak witness to the world: an intellectual biography. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press.

Winslow, D. 1995. Indépendance, savoir aborigène et environnement en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Journal of Political Ecology 2: 1-19.




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