Fall 2024

Kanaky – New Caledonia

The Department of History and the Center for Pacific Islands Studies presents “Kanaky – New Caledonia,” a talk by History Professor Emeritus David Chappell. A synopsis of the talk can be found below:

The devastation in southern New Caledonia since May this year, which saw the burning of over a thousand businesses, homes, churches, and schools, arrests of 1260 people, 13 deaths, and the erection of indigenous roadblocks that cut off many people’s access to food or medicines, has evoked plenty of polemics from various sides. This talk will take a closer look at crucial details, for example this quote from young Kanak women: “We want our full independence. We have awakened. We don’t have jobs,” and other statements by young indigenous activists about how their parents gave their lives for progress and a gradually decolonizing peace accord, but now loyalist settlers and President Emmanuel Macron have tried to erase those sacrifices in the 1980s civil war.

What were the immediate causes of the violence, and its possible outcomes today? This talk will argue that it is due to the latest “zig zag” in French political relations with New Caledonia: an effort to recolonize after thirty years of decolonization efforts started by the Noumea Accord of 1998. The pressure of rising immigration is a key factor, and the French President’s rather chaotic politicking in Europe and beyond, and even Russian-backed Azerbaijan has played a provocative role.

The talk will take place in Moore 319 and via Zoom (registration link) on Wednesday, October 30, 2024 at 2:00pm HST. Light refreshments to follow.