An Ethnographic Study of the State in Rural Solomon Islands: a Quest for Autonomy in Global Dependencies
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An Ethnographic Study of the State in Rural Solomon Islands: A Quest for Autonomy in Global Dependencies Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis A Thesis In the Department of Sociology and Anthropology Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Social and Cultural Analysis) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada And in a Cotutelle Agreement For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Social Anthropology and Ethnology) at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales Paris, France October 2016 hi © Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis, 2016 CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis Entitled: An Ethnographic Study of the State in Rural Solomon Islands (Lau, North Malaita): A Quest for Autonomy in Global Dependencies and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of: Doctor of Philosophy (Social and Cultural Analysis) complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Chair Dr. G. LeBlanc External Examiner Dr. G. White External Examiner Dr. L. Lindstrom Examiner Dr. E. Wittersheim Examiner Dr. L. Dousset Examiner Dr. J.P. Warren Examiner Dr. M. Mendell Thesis Co-Supervisor Dr. C. Jourdan Thesis Co-Supervisor Dr. J. Friedman Approved by: Dr. B. Best, Graduate Program Director October 28, 2016 Dr. A. Roy, Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science Abstract An Ethnographic Study of the State in Rural Solomon Islands (Lau, North Malaita): A Quest for Autonomy in Global Dependencies Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis Concordia University and École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 2016 This thesis is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Solomon Islands capital, Honiara (four months), and in the rural Lau Lagoon, Malaita Province (eight months). It examines how the Solomon Islands state, marked by a recent history of civil conflict and foreign military intervention, becomes visible in the everyday lives of rural and, to a lesser degree, urban non- elites; and how this visibility affects non-elite perceptions of the state as legitimate, dominant governing system. Non-elites are defined as those Solomon Islanders who often have only completed some primary/secondary education, whose first and primary language is their vernacular, and whose affluence is defined by their reliance on slash-and-burn agriculture, non- industrial fishing and micro-economic activities. Theoretically, this thesis draws on literature that defines the state through its ability to become invisible in everyday routines in such a way that state legitimacy and dominance as governing system are rarely questioned, and if they are only during temporary disruptions. I propose that to understand to what extent and how the Solomon Islands state is integrated into everyday routines it is necessary to focus on mundane encounters with the state, its infrastructures and representatives as well as available alternatives; and to do so by prioritizing the perspective of the non-elites rather than the perspective of the disciplining state and state-focused members of (an urban) civil society. The Solomon Islands case is ideally suited for such an analysis because in this historically, linguistically and culturally diverse country the centralized state has been found to continuously struggle with diverging local conceptualizations of government and governance. My findings highlight that the Solomon Islands state has failed to become integrated into daily routines. Instead it is nearly continuously visible as a disruptive force. As a result non-elites continue to defy state-based unification and instead seek relative iii autonomy from the state by emphasizing the dominance and legitimacy of village-centric governance. This quest for autonomy is, however, increasingly curtailed by dependency on foreign foods and goods, and therein by a dependency on the state as primary globally- recognized legitimate mediator of economic relations. Keywords: State, infrastructures, bureaucracy, leadership, global dependencies, non-elites, village, Lau, Malaita, Solomon Islands iv Résumé Une étude ethnographique de l'État dans les îles Salomon rurales (Lau, Malaita du nord): une quête d'autonomie dans un contexte de dépendances globales Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis Concordia University et École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, 2016 Cette thèse est basée sur des travaux ethnographiques sur le terrain, pendant quatre mois, dans la capitale des Îles Salomon, Honiara, et pendant huit mois, dans la lagune Lau rural (province de Malaita). Elle examine comment l'État des Îles Salomon, marqué par une histoire récente de conflits civils et par une intervention militaire étrangère, devient visible dans la vie quotidienne des non-élites rurales et, à un moindre degré, urbaines. En outre, elle analyse de quelle manière cette visibilité influence les non-élites dans leur perception de l'État en tant qu'institution gouvernementale légitime et dominante. Les non-élites sont définies comme les habitants des Îles Salomon ayant eu une certaine éducation primaire/secondaire, dont la langue principale est leur vernaculaire et dont la fortune est dépendante de l'agriculture sur brûlis, de la pêche non- industrielle et d'activités microéconomiques. Pour le côté théorique, cette thèse s'appuie sur la littérature définissant l'État par son aptitude à se rendre invisible dans les routines quotidiennes. Ainsi, la légitimité et la domination de l'État en tant qu'institution gouvernementale sont rarement mises en question ou seulement pendant des perturbations temporaires. Pour comprendre comment et dans quelle mesure l'État des Îles Salomon est intégré dans des routines quotidiennes, il me paraît nécessaire de focaliser l'attention sur des contacts courants avec l'État, ses infrastructures, ses représentants ainsi que les alternatives possibles et de donner aussi la priorité à la perspective des non-élites plutôt qu'à la perspective de l'État disciplinaire et des membres urbaines de la société civile orientés vers l'État. Le cas des Îles Salomon est idéal pour une telle analyse: dans ce pays qui a une grande diversité historique, linguistique et culturelle, l'État centralisé a été perçu se débattant sans cesse contre des conceptualisations locales, divergentes du gouvernement et de la gouvernance. Mes conclusions soulignent que l'État des Îles Salomon n'a pas réussi à s'intégrer dans les routines quotidiennes. Il est plutôt presque constamment visible comme force perturbatrice. Par conséquent, les non-élites v continuent à s'opposer à l'unification centrée sur l'État et cherchent à garder une autonomie relative par rapport à l'État en accentuant la domination et la légitimité d'une gouvernance centrée sur le village. Cependant, cette quête d'autonomie est de plus en plus entravée par la dépendance des aliments et des produits étrangers, donc par la dépendance de l'État en tant que médiateur principal de relations économiques reconnu au niveau global. Mots clés: État, infrastructures, bureaucratie, leadership, dépendances globales, non-élites, village, Lau, Malaita, Îles Salomon vi Acknowledgements Many people have helped and guided me through this, at times and in various ways, very difficult process. When I began my doctoral studies at Concordia University, and later on moved to a cotutelle program with EHESS, I never imagined the debt I would incur over the years. My gratitude begins with my Concordia-based supervisor, Christine Jourdan, who first sparked my interest in the Solomon Islands, who introduced me to Pierre Maranda and the Lau, and who supported and inspired me in my academic development from my first experiences with publishing and teaching to learning how to navigate the at times jungle-like academic bureaucracies. I also thank Christine Jourdan for guiding my language learning, for metaphorically holding my hands during my first steps as fieldworker in Melanesia and for valuable comments on my many thesis drafts. I also thank my EHESS-based supervisor, Jonathan Friedman, for taking me on as his student despite his retirement and after I had already began my trajectory as doctoral student at Concordia. In particular I am grateful for the theoretical inspiration and stimulating challenges his research has posed to me and the way I have come to think about state-building in the global world system. Other faculty members at both EHESS and Concordia have provided valuable comments, insights and stimulating questions at different stages of my doctoral research. For broader institutional support, beyond my primary affiliations, I am especially grateful to the members of CREDO (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie) for diverse and inspiring seminars and a collegial atmosphere, to the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University where I was able to spend six months as visiting graduate student, and to the Tuzin Archive for Melanesian Anthropology at the University of California, San Diego. In addition, my doctoral research would have been considerably more difficult without generous and multiple funding from Concordia University and a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. vii I cannot express enough gratitude to Naomi McPherson, Pierre Maranda and David Akin who have offered their advice and guidance so generously at various stages throughout this process. I was fortunate to have had the opportunity