Contesting the "Common Destiny": Citizenship in Decolonising New Caledonia

Abstract

For forty years, the political landscape of the French territorial community sui generis of New Caledonia has been divided on the question of independence. In 1998, pro and anti-independence leaders signed the Noumea Accord with the French Government agreeing to a referendum on independence in November 2018 and a gradual, irreversible transfer of certain sovereign powers to New Caledonia. One of the most controversial aspects of the agreement concerned the creation of a “citizenship of New Caledonia”, constituting the basis for restrictions to voting rights in local provincial-level elections and the protection of local employment. Moreover, it acts as a social, legal and political mechanism for the construction of the “common destiny” among the New Caledonian population, which, in the event of independence, will transform into a nationality.

New Caledonia thus became the first part of France to possess its own distinct citizenship, breaking with the principle of indivisibility at the foundation of the Republic since the French Revolution. Considerable opposition has emerged in response to the exclusion of many thousands of French citizens from New Caledonian citizenship who do not satisfy the minimum residency requirements. However, proponents of citizenship argue that it is a necessary element of the decolonisation process, acting as a counter-measure to immigration, which risks preventing the indigenous Kanak population from being heard at the ballot box concerning New Caledonia’s future.

This thesis provides an interpretive analysis of how citizenship is claimed and contested in New Caledonia. It examines how the decolonisation process shapes the distribution of rights and obligations associated with citizenship, exploring in depth how people construct legitimacy within the political community. Such a study enriches our understanding of contemporary processes of decolonisation, especially in overseas territories, where scholars often overlook the politics of citizenship. It is argued that the decolonisation process necessitates a re-conceptualisation of the political community, both in relation to the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion derived from the colonial past and contemporary debates over migration between metropole and territory. In the New Caledonian case, the Kanak independence movement has contested the universal basis of French republicanism, while New Caledonian citizenship invites a serious reflection on the moral legitimacy of non-indigenous populations within the political community. This thesis therefore illuminates the problematic nexus between legally defined political communities and the complex questions of identity and belonging that emerge from colonisation. Regardless of the outcome following the end of the Noumea Accord transitionary period, the matter of citizenship is likely to persist well into the future. Show more