MAPPING NARRATIVES OF SELF-DETERMINATION, NATIONAL IDENTITY, AND (RE)BALANCING IN NEW CALEDONIA A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Cadey A. K. Korson December 2015 © Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published materials Dissertation written by Cadey A. K. Korson A.A., Grand Rapids Community College, 2008 B.A., Aquinas College, 2010 M.A., University of Missouri-Columbia, 2012 Ph.D., Kent State University, 2015 Approved by Dr. David Kaplan, Professor, Ph.D., Department of Geography, Doctoral Advisor Dr. James Tyner, Professor, Ph.D., Department of Geography Dr. Jennifer Mapes, Assistant Professor, Ph.D., Department of Geography Dr. Richard Stiegman-Gall, Professor, Ph.D., Department of History Dr. Landon Hancock, Associate Professor, Ph.D., Department of Political Science Accepted by Dr. Scott Sheridan, Chair, Ph.D., Department of Geography Dr. James L. Blank, Dean, Ph.D., College of Arts and Sciences TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES VI LIST OF TABLES VII ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS VIII CHAPTER 1 1 INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2 6 GOVERNING PLURAL SOCIETIES 6 MODELS OF POST-COLONIAL DEPENDENT GOVERNANCE 6 EXAMPLES OF POST-COLONIAL DEPENDENT GOVERNANCE 9 POST-COLONIAL RELATIONS AND THE INTEGRATION OF FRENCH OVERSEAS DEPENDENCIES 17 IMPLEMENTING SELF-DETERMINATION AND MODELS OF ADMINISTRATION 21 IMPLEMENTING SELF-DETERMINATION THROUGH MULTICULTURAL INTEGRATION AND MINORITY RIGHTS 23 IMPLEMENTING SELF-DETERMINATION THROUGH DEMOCRATIC AND FEDERAL SYSTEMS 25 THE ROLE OF IDENTITY AND NATIONALISM IN SELF-DETERMINATION 30 IMPLEMENTING SELF-DETERMINATION THROUGH TERRITORIAL AUTONOMY 35 INDIGENOUS MOVEMENTS IN GLOBAL CONTEXT 37 CHAPTER 3 43 HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR THE NEW CALEODNIAN CASE STUDY 43 COLONIAL HISTORY 43 MISSION CIVLISATRICE 44 CODE DE L’INDIGÉNAT: LEGAL FRAMEWORK 46 EXPORTING THE FRENCH NATIONAL REVOLUTION: WWII 47 POST-WWII POLITICAL LANDSCAPE IN NEW CALEDONIA 49 MATIGNON ACCORD: PEACE AFTER CIVIL WAR? 58 THE NOUMEA ACCORD: FRAMING FUTURE POSSIBILITIES 62 CONCLUSION 65 CHAPTER 4 68 RESEARCH DESIGN 68 DATA SOURCES AND INTERVIEWEE INFORMATION 70 BACKGROUND ON INTERVIEWEES 81 METHODOLOGY AND METHOD OF ANALYSIS 87 GROUNDED THEORY AND DISCOURSE ANALYSIS 88 USING CHORD DIAGRAMS 96 CHAPTER 5 101 iii POLITICAL REBALANCING 101 SELF-DETERMINATION AS A RIGHT 103 THE ROLE OF THE UNITED NATIONS: WATCHDOG OR GUARDIAN OF SELF-DETERMINATION? 107 DECOLONIZATION, THE NOUMÉA ACCORD, AND TRANSFER OF POWERS 110 ELECTORAL BODIES: FROZEN OR SLIDING 114 RESTRICTED, OPEN, OR DUAL CITIZENSHIP 125 CONCLUSION: POLITICAL REBALANCING 132 CHAPTER 6 137 SOCIAL REBALANCING 137 CONFLICTING NATIONAL IDENTITIES 138 A COMMON FRENCH-CALEDONIAN IDENTITY AND CALDOCHITUDE 139 KANAK IDENTITY AND CULTURE 145 PLURAL IDENTITY, MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY, AND THE CALEDONIAN IDENTITY 154 VICTIM AND VICTIMS OF HISTORY NARRATIVES 158 A ‘COMMON DESTINY?’ 163 CONCLUSION: SOCIAL REBALANCING 169 CHAPTER 7 174 ECONOMIC REBALANCING 174 THE ROLE OF FRANCE: COLONIZER OR PROTECTOR? 175 FRANCE AS A COLONIZER AND VILLAIN 176 FRANCE AS A PROTECTOR AND SUPPORTER 179 DESTABILIZING AN AID CULTURE: REDUCING FRENCH DEPENDENCY 183 KEY SHARING PROGRAM AND PROVINCIAL INEQUALITY 186 MINING AND THE NEW CALEDONIAN ECONOMY 189 REBALANCING THE MINING INDUSTRY AND FOUNDATIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT 193 CONCLUSION: ECONOMIC REBALANCING 196 CHAPTER 8 208 OPTIONS FOR THE OUTCOME OF THE ACCORD 208 OPTIONS FOR THE OUTCOME OF NOUMÉA ACCORD: STEERING COMMITTEE 213 PARTY PLATFORMS AND POTENTIAL OUTCOMES ACCORDING TO THE LOYALIST COALITIONS 220 UNION POUR CALEDONIE DANS LA FRANCE (UCF) COALITION 220 FRONT POUR L’UNITÉ (FPU) COALITION 221 CALÉDONIE ENSEMBLE (CE) PARTY 222 PARTY PLATFORMS AND POTENTIAL OUTCOMES ACCORDING TO THE NATIONALIST COALITIONS 224 UNION CALEDONIENNE-FRONT DE LIBERATION NATIONALE KANAK ET SOCIALISTE (UC-FLNKS) COALITION 226 DYNAMIQUE UNITAIRE SUD (DUS) PARTY 228 UNION NATIONALE POUR L’INDEPENDENCE – PARTI DE LIBERATION KANAK (UNI-PALIKA) COALITION 230 POST-REFERENDUM DOMESTIC GOVERNMENT, CONSENSUS, AND DEMOCRATIC MULTICULTURALISM 232 INCORPORATING PARTY OBJECTIVES INTO POTENTIAL OUTCOMES 240 LEGALITY OF OUTCOMES, THE NOUMÉA ACCORD, AND DECOLONIZATION 242 iv COMMON DESTINY 244 VICTIMIZATION, IDENTITY, AND SOCIAL REBALANCING 247 CITIZENSHIP 249 SPECIAL ELECTORATE, SELF-DETERMINATION, AND POLITICAL REBALANCING 250 ECONOMIC REBALANCING AND PERCEPTION OF FRANCE 251 CONCLUSIONS ON THE OUTCOME OF THE NOUMÉA ACCORD 252 CHAPTER 9 255 CONCLUSIONS 255 REFERENCES 266 APPENDIX A 286 APPENDIX B 289 LIST OF NEWS ARTICLES COLLECTED 289 LIST OF ADDITIONAL SOURCES 301 v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Political Parties on a political and economic scale………….…………………………87 Figure 2. Connections between dominant themes…………………...…………………………..98 Figure 3. Correlations between identity, citizenship, and electorates……….………………….129 Figure 4. Connections and co-definitions among select objectives………….…………………133 Figure 5. Customary Governance Structure in New Caledonia…………….…………………..234 Figure 6. Framing of Objectives that define outcomes………………………………………....241 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1. List of Research Subjects and Data Sources……………………………………………72 Table 2. Identification of the Electorate Category and Framing……………………………..….92 Table 3. Electoral Rolls and Eligibility Criteria………………………………………………..115 Table 4. French Financial Assistance to New Caledonia in Pacific Francs…………………….182 Table 5. Outcomes Advocated by Political Party………………………………………………219 vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my doctoral advisor Dr. Dave Kaplan whose unflagging support and guidance has been invaluable throughout my graduate career. His advice and mentorship has helped me refine my research skills and successfully achieve my doctoral degree. I greatly appreciate his tireless efforts in completing recommendation after recommendation and wading through my endless dissertation drafts, publications, book reviews, and class papers. He has been both a role model and an inspiration. Thanks Dave! I appreciate the work that Dr. Jennifer Mapes and Dr. James Tyner have done reviewing my proposal and dissertation in all its forms. I would like to thank Dr. Landon Hancock and Dr. Richard Steigmann-Gall for serving as members of my committee and providing valuable feedback on my dissertation. I am grateful to Dr. Mapes for challenging me to become a better writer and continuing to read my drafts despite my atrocious grammar. Her caring and consideration for me as a student and a colleague continues to encourage me. During my fieldwork Dr. Mathias Chauchat helped me navigate the intricacies of New Caledonian politics and patiently answered my many questions. I want to thank Catherine Ris as well for organizing my lodging and internship with LARJE at the University of New Caledonia. I will always appreciate her introduction me to my three research assistants, without whom I would have never succeeded. The LARJE department at the University of New Caledonia was a source of great financial and practical support during my stay in New Caledonia. I would like to recognize the work of Sybille Poaouteta, Emilie Douyere, and Samuel Gorohouna. Their interpretation during interviews and subsequent conversations enriched my dissertation and eventual analysis. In particular, I want to thank Sybille for making all of those phone calls to viii administrative assistants and politicians. She always knew just how much to push to get an interview. Without her help this would have been a much shorter and less interesting dissertation. I would like to acknowledge the support of the Department of Geography at Kent State University. Funding from the department, the Kent State Graduate Student Senate, and the Graduate Dean’s Award made it possible for me to embark on this incredible research project. Without this help and the support of Dr. Kate McAnulty I would not have been able to achieve my goals for fieldwork. There are a number of graduate students within my department and at Kent State who have been a part of this process and who have encouraged me through the highs and lows of my graduate experience. Dr. Weronika Kusek, Indira Sultanic, and Amanda Sovicek have been a constant source of encouragement, sounding boards for my ideas (and my rants), and overall amazing women that I greatly admire. I am so thankful for their unfailing support and kindness. A number of people throughout my academic career have made this dissertation possible. Dr. Mike Devivo at Grand Rapids Community College was the one who first set me on the path to geography one fateful day in cultural geography. His mentorship throughout the past eight years has guided me to some amazing departments and opportunities. Geography lives! I would also like to thank Dr. Larry Brown and Dr. Soren Larsen at the University of Missouri-Columbia for their continued encouragement and support even after I graduated. I greatly appreciate Dr. Larsen’s time and effort writing the many recommendation letters I requested. He was always the first to submit them! And finally, I want to thank Doc: who always encouraged his students to question everything. I would like to thank my family for nurturing my pursuit of an advanced degree. My parents have made it possible for me to pursue my passion of international travel and provided ix for my education. Their love, and support of my achievements, has been a great source of encouragement. I am constantly inspired by their love, dedication, and hard work. My grandparents have been a source