Rights statement: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Settler Colonial Studies on 13/07/2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/2201473X.2014.1000905
Accepted author manuscript, 431 KB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Contested sites, land claims and economic development in Poum, New Caledonia
AU - Kowasch, Matthias
AU - Batterbury, Simon
AU - Neumann, Martin
N1 - Later republished in a book This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Settler Colonial Studies on 13/07/2015, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/2201473X.2014.1000905
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Property relations are often ambiguous in postcolonial settings. Property is only considered as such if socially legitimate institutions sanction it. In indigenous communities, access to natural resources is frequently multidimensional and overlapping, subject to conflict and negotiation in a ‘social arena’. Settler arrivals and new economic possibilities challenge these norms and extend the arena. The article analyses conflicts and negotiations in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the light of its unique settler history and economic activity, focussing on the little-studied remote northern district of Poum on the Caledonian main island Grande Terre. In this region the descendants of British fishermen intermarried with the majority Kanak clans. We illustrate the interaction between customary conflicts, European settlement, struggles for independence, and a desire for economic development. Customary claims are in tension with the attractions of economic growth and service delivery, which has been slow in coming to Poum for reasons largely outside the control of local people.
AB - Property relations are often ambiguous in postcolonial settings. Property is only considered as such if socially legitimate institutions sanction it. In indigenous communities, access to natural resources is frequently multidimensional and overlapping, subject to conflict and negotiation in a ‘social arena’. Settler arrivals and new economic possibilities challenge these norms and extend the arena. The article analyses conflicts and negotiations in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the light of its unique settler history and economic activity, focussing on the little-studied remote northern district of Poum on the Caledonian main island Grande Terre. In this region the descendants of British fishermen intermarried with the majority Kanak clans. We illustrate the interaction between customary conflicts, European settlement, struggles for independence, and a desire for economic development. Customary claims are in tension with the attractions of economic growth and service delivery, which has been slow in coming to Poum for reasons largely outside the control of local people.
KW - new caledonia
KW - Mining
KW - indigenous peoples
U2 - 10.1080/2201473X.2014.1000905
DO - 10.1080/2201473X.2014.1000905
M3 - Journal article
VL - 5
SP - 302
EP - 316
JO - Settler Colonial Studies
JF - Settler Colonial Studies
SN - 2201-473X
IS - 4
ER -