Pacific Dynamics: Journal Articles

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Open Access
So near yet so far away: The colonisation and decolonisation on of New Zealand and New Caledonia
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Small, David
Despite their geographic proximity, New Zealand and New Caledonia experienced from the outset quite different forms of colonialism at the hands of Britain and France. However, the history of the two countries also reveals interesting parallels. This article explores some of these similarities and differences and discusses their implications for decolonisation struggles led by the indigenous Kanak and Māori peoples. The study points to differences in how sovereignty was acquired, identifies similarities in the colonial strategies of initial military conquest and land dispossession, and highlights contrasts between the British assimilationist approach in New Zealand and France's segregationist policies in New Caledonia. The article traces the evolution of colonial relations noting that in both countries, the moderate political aspirations of the colonised peoples during the post-war period were jettisoned by a new generation of radical activists starting in the late 1960s. By the mid-1980s, these movements for decolonisation had gained sufficient support to be able to force concessions from the governments of New Zealand and France. It also notes that in 2023, both countries were confronted by attempts by those in power to call into question fundamental aspects of decolonisation which had been widely believed to have been settled for decades, including the issue of whether ongoing dimensions of colonisation should be addressed. The article argues that, although colonisation in New Zealand and New Caledonia took different forms, the current backlash against efforts for decolonisation is once again presenting similar challenges separately yet simultaneously in both countries.
Open Access
Le handicap dans Just an ordinary kid (1988) de Lisa Vasil et Je suis née morte (2012) de Nathalie Heirani Salmon-Hudry : de la rationalité du modèle occidental à la relationnalité de la pensée océanienne.
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Grodek, Elzbieta
Le propos qui suit porte sur la représenta on li éraire d’un groupe minoritaire composé d’enfants et de jeunes adultes en situa on de handicap. Nous proposons une lecture de deux récits venant de l’aire océanienne : Just an ordinary kid (1988) de la Néo-zélandaise Lisa Vasil et Je suis née morte (2012) de Nathalie Heirani Salmon-Hudry originaire de Tahi . Les deux récits re ètent le fonc onnement du modèle médical du handicap répandu dans la tradi on occidentale, qui se montre di cilement conciliable avec les ontologies océaniennes de rela onnalité. Nous soutenons que la présence du modèle médical/individuel aux racines ancrées dans les principes capitalistes et expansionnistes résulte en tension interne que les récits de Vasil et de Salmon-Hudry engendrent et ne réussissent pas à résoudre. L’ar cle commence par un rappel de trois modèles théoriques principaux du handicap. Nous montrons ensuite le travail d’une stra graphie de sens uctuante dans les deux récits étudiés. Notamment, la couche séman que mise en place par la diégèse et le discours, et ponctuée de références aux valeurs tradi onnelles de la région du Paci que déstabilise le sens créé par l’histoire racontée qui est à son tour dominée par le modèle médical occidental du handicap. Nous concluons en faisant un rapprochement à l’éthique du care qui apporte une perspec ve pluridisciplinaire a en ve au respect de la vulnérabilité, à l’interdépendance des êtres et des phénomènes, et au souci du main en de la rela on.
Open Access
Le troisième clan: écocritique et topocritique des échos minoritaires
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Hupel, Erwan
Si l’on en croit le journaliste anglais David Goodhart, le monde voit aujourd’hui s’a ronter deux clans : les cols blancs qui sont « de partout » imposent leurs vues à ceux qui, désespérément « de quelque part », s’e acent et parfois se révoltent, en lant leur gilet jaune ou coi ant leur bonnet rouge. On peut supposer l’existence d’un troisième clan : un ensemble de sociétés minoritaires qui, de colloques universitaires en manifesta ons culturelles, se reconnaissent entre elles. Ainsi la Bretagne regarde le Paci que et ses minorités : les Maoris étaient à l’honneur au Fes val de cinéma de Douarnenez en 2001, les arts inuit et aborigène faisaient l’objet d’une exposi on à l’Abbaye de Daoulas en 2010, tandis que L’École des Filles au Huelgoat s’est plusieurs fois intéressée aux voyages de Victor Segalen… Il nous est loisible, Bretons, de voir dans chacune de ces manifesta ons quelque illustra on de notre propre situa on et de reconnaître chez les autres un même désir de reconnaissance culturelle et de liberté linguis que. Mais tout cela n’est-il pas qu’une construc on intellectuelle et un peu ar cielle ? L’objet de cet ar cle est de donner à comprendre, à entendre ces échos minoritaires hors des salons et des musées. S’ils sont audibles, c’est sans doute dans un rapport par culier aux espaces et aux lieux. Comment les minoritaires perçoivent-ils le monde et ses détails ? Quels sont les lieux qu’ils recherchent et ceux qu’ils fuient ? Les blessures qu’ils partagent ? Ce sont ces quelques interroga ons qui ont guidé notre lecture de l’œuvre des écrivains, poètes, diaristes qui ont su dire, en breton, le Gabon, le Pérou, la Polynésie ou encore les couloirs du métro de New York.
Open Access
Sia Figiel: Porte-parole d’une Minorité en Quête de Liberté et d’Emancipation
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Scarlaken, Justine
Les textes de Sia Figiel, auteure samoane, présentent une mosaïque de personnages féminins. Chaque personnage est à la fois porteur d’un récit d’expériences individuelles mais également membre d’une communauté singulière doublement ostracisée. La minorité insulaire des îles Samoa, et la minorité des femmes trouvent dans l’œuvre de l’autrice un lieu privilégié d’expression leur permettant d’une part d’exister, mais également de se faire voix. La littérature permet à cette double minorité de se fédérer et de s’émanciper.
Open Access
:: mirror :: dust
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Zeiher, Cindy
Open Access
The Third Clan: Ecocriticism and Topocriticism of Minority Echoes
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Hupel, Erwan; Cuillé, Florence (Translator)
According to British journalist David Goodhart, there are two clans in the world today: the white-collar workers who are "from everywhere" and impose their views on those who, desperately "from somewhere", take a back seat and sometimes rebel, donning their yellow vests or red hats. There may well be a third clan: a group of minority societies which, from university conferences to cultural events, recognise each other. Brittany is looking to the Pacific and its minorities: Māori were featured at the Douarnenez Film Festival in 2001, Inuit and Aboriginal art were the subject of an exhibition at Daoulas Abbey in 2010, while L’École des Filles in Huelgoat has on several occasions taken an interest in Victor Segalen’s travels. As Bretons, we are free to see in each of these manifestations some illustration of our own situation and to recognise in others the same desire for cultural recognition and linguistic freedom. But is this not all just an intellectual and somewhat artificial construct? The aim of this article is to help us understand and hear these minority echoes outside of the salons and museums. If they are audible, it is undoubtedly in a particular
Open Access
Preparing teachers for working with linguistically diverse students: comparing ITE in Aotearoa New Zealand and France
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Smythe, Fiona; Abou-Samra, Myriam
The exclusion or marginalisation of minority languages within schools effectively reinforces “the monolingual bias” inherent in monolingual education systems. In settings where majority languages with a colonial history are spoken, such as English and French, residual traces of cultural oppression and linguistic dominance remain. This is evident when newly-arrived migrant students are treated as linguistically deficient (Smythe, 2023), or when minority languages are rendered invisible within education systems (Major, 2018). Within such contexts therefore, the treatment of language diversity in education raises important questions about freedoms, rights and inclusion of minority language speakers. This issue is explored in a small-scale comparative study on how initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in Aotearoa New Zealand and France prepare teachers for working with linguistically diverse students. Within ITE programmes in both countries, training for working with minority language students remains largely segregated into specialised pathways. In consequence, the majority of mainstream classroom teachers are often under-prepared for teaching linguistically diverse students.
Open Access
Disability in Just an ordinary kid (1988) by Lisa Vasil and Je suis née morte (2012) by Nathalie Heirani Salmon-Hudry: From the Rationality of the Western model to the Relationality of Oceanian Thinking.
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Grodek, Elzbieta; Malan, Kathryn (Translator)
The object of the following discussion is the literary depiction of a minority group comprising children and young adults with disabilities. We propose an interpretation of two stories from Oceania: Just an ordinary kid (1988) by New Zealander Lisa Vasil and Je suis née morte (2012) by Tahitian Nathalie Heirani Salmon-Hudry. The two narratives reflect how the widespread Western medical model of disability works, and how it is hard to reconcile it with Oceanian relationality ontologies. We argue that the presence of the medical/individual model rooted in capitalist and expansionist principles gives rise to the internal narrative tension that Vasil and Salmon-Hudry’s stories create and are not able to resolve. This article starts with a summary of the three main theoretical models of disability. We then show the stratigraphy created by the fluctuating meanings in the two stories being studied. In particular, the semantic layer introduced through diegesis and discourse, interspersed with references to the Pacific region’s traditional values, destabilises the meaning created by the narrated story which, in turn, is dominated by the Western medical model of disability. We conclude by drawing parallels with the ethics of care, which provides a multi-disciplinary perspective with a focus on vulnerability, the inter-dependence of beings and phenomena, and interest in maintaining relationships.
Open Access
Minorities and Freedoms in a Trans-Imperial Oceanic Context
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Speedy, Karin
The interplay between minority and freedom is the very bread and butter of the colonial project. Colonialism dictates that the power is in the hands of the coloniser majority, even if sometimes that majority is numerically inferior as is evident in the slave-based economies of sugar colonies. In settler colonialism, the focus is on flooding the colonised territory with settler bodies, seizing the land, reducing, exterminating, or at least numerically minoritising, the Indigenous population, ensuring that the power will stay with the settler majority. In both scenarios, the colonised undergo, what Aimé Césaire has termed ‘chosification’: they are reduced to things to be owned, used, exploited, and consumed. In this article, I explore the concepts of ‘minority’ and ‘freedom’ within the structures of colonialism in a trans-imperial Oceanic context. I trace the movements of colonised peoples across and between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, travelling the circuitous and intertwined French and British imperial networks of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. To what extent did notions of freedom and minority status shift in mobility? How can we understand these terms within the transactional trade in human labour? How transformational were ocean crossings for migrants, labourers and Indigenous people moving between islands, colonies, empires, and the metropole? I discuss these questions in relation to my past and current research on blackbirding and other free and forced horizontal labour movements and migrations that criss-cross the Francophone and Anglophone Pacific, the Indian Ocean and France.
Open Access
Gender Minorities and Unequal Freedoms in Polynesia
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Tcherkézoff, Serge
The notion of a minority revealed only by a count of units, as in the result of a majority vote, or in the census of populations according to origin, expanded in the Western discourse of the 1960s, when one began to speak of "sexual minorities", to designate differences from what seems a norm, without actual counting. "Minority" became synonymous with "non-heteronormative", whether it was a few people or several million. I prefer to speak of "gender minority", because the former expression creates the illusion that differences are only about sexual orientation, whereas there are gender minorities that do not define themselves, at least not on a first level of distinctions, by their sexual orientation. In the Polynesian region, this includes those declared boys at birth but who actually identify as girls at a certain age, and (but this is generally forgotten) those who are declared girls at birth but who actually identify as boys at a certain age. The common discourse then qualifies them respectively as 'like girls' (in Samoan: faa-fafine) and 'like boys' (in Samoan faa-tama or more recently faa-fa-tama). The question of 'freedom' is threefold. 1) What are the obstacles to this so-called 'trans-gender' claim? 2) Why does the transition for girl-born meet with so many more obstacles in comparison to boy-born? Paradoxically, we find a new gender inequality within gender minorities. 3) How can we understand that even in the discourse of transgender individuals, the demand for freedom to belong to a gender minority is accompanied by a refusal to claim the freedom to belong to a sexual minority (for example, the right to homosexuality, or the right to same-sex marriage)?
Open Access
Of parentage unknown (Notes from the New Caledonian État Civil)
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Speedy, Karin
Open Access
Introduction: (De)Constructing Minorities and Freedoms
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Viselli, Antonio
Open Access
“C’est vraiment un sale épisode de ma vie”: Remembering French Indochina in Clément Baloup’s Mémoires de Viet Kieu
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Sawin, Warisara Emily
This paper examines Clément Baloup’s graphic novel series Mémoires de Viet Kieu (Quitter Saigon, 2006; Les linh tho, immigrés de force, 2017) and its engagement with visual devices and narrative structures that resist marginalization and silence while providing a multidirectional component to the postmemory of trauma, war violence, and displacement in postcolonial France. This paper seeks to argue that Baloup’s work offers a personal perspective on small-scale history and the history of family structures, with the cartoonist serving as a mediator. Baloup’s use of the comic medium enables him to weave together fragmented multivocal testimonies from various people into a completely linear story. By exploring the themes of life as a racialized minority in France, freedom, and mosaics, the paper assesses the extent to which Baloup creates a new aesthetic of storytelling as a witness that contributes to postcolonial studies. Overall, this paper highlights the graphic novel’s unique ability to provide additional voices to postcolonial discourse outside of traditional mediums.
Open Access
Dessiner des routes de portage entre les territoires et les eaux / Drawing portage paths between lands and waters
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies) Fontaine, Natasha Kanapé
relationship to spaces and places. How do minorities perceive the world and its details? Which places do they seek out and which do they flee? What wounds do they share? These are the questions that have guided our reading of the work of writers, poets and diarists who have written in Breton about Gabon, Peru, Polynesia or the corridors of the New York underground.
Open Access
Book Review: Remembering Epeli Hau'ofa: His Life and Legacy
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Nicole, Robert
Open Access
Land Law Literacy and Its Impacts on iTaukei Land Governance and Political Affiliation
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Sakai, Sevanaia
Empirical research on land tenure in Fiji has rarely paid attention to the fact that the iTaukei knowledge of their land rights is not only a sine qua non (prerequisite) in their ability to enforce these rights but will also affect their attitude towards land reforms, political party affiliation, ethnic relations, investment, governance, and management. Issues relating to land ownership, in the main, reflect the socio-political configuration of iTaukei society, including their status as the first people in a heterogeneous society fashioned during the colonial period. This article is based on a PhD dissertation. It focuses on native land literacy (or lack of it) and its implications on customary land governance and political affiliations. Apart from the literature on customary land tenure in Fiji, this study uses mixed-methods research by engaging the hermeneutic paradigms and operationalizing a bundle of predominantly qualitative methods tailored specifically to suit the iTaukei context in the village of Narewa in Nadi. The findings of this empirical study will fill a significant void in the literature and provide evidence of the impact of land law literacy on individual and village land governance and on resources that are owned collectively. It will also contribute to discussions about how land insecurity influences political party choices among iTaukei affiliations.
Open Access
Threats to Heritage Collections in Papua New Guinea: A Preliminary Case Study on 'Cause-Risk-Effect' in Preventive Conservation Issues at Papua New Guinea’s National Museum and Art Gallery
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Tulupul, Stalen Jethro; Toshiya, Matsui; Ondirari, Kevin; Kazumu, Kuramitsu; Yoshiko, Honda
Different museums have different systems for addressing problems associated with agents of deterioration. There are guidelines from regional and international governing bodies, such as the Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM), on maintaining museum collections. The guidelines are based on many knowledge contributions to heritage conservation and preservation over time. However, the ‘governing bodies’ do not directly handle the museum collections within the museums' custody, and therefore, it is their (museums’) responsibility to develop systems that are practical in their capacity to achieve their goals. This case study presents the context of the situation at the and addresses possible threats from problems that are likely to influence conservation efforts. The article includes an illustration of case studies on three agents of deterioration (incorrect relative humidity, incorrect temperature, and pests) and the widespread presence of mould within the building. The analysis of the ‘cause-risk-effect’ attributes threats to systems breakdowns and situations such as lack of proper policy guidelines and deficiency in knowledge capacity, that put the museum collections at risk.
Open Access
Type 2 Diabetes in Different Pacific Groups in Aotearoa New Zealand – Characteristics and Medication Use
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Chepulis, Lynne; Papa, Valentina; Mustafa, Sara; Rodrigues, Mark; Paul, Ryan; Aporosa, Apo; Crosswell, Rebekah; Vaka, Sione
Pacific peoples are disproportionately affected by type 2 diabetes (T2D) in Aotearoa New Zealand (ANZ). However, little is known about the burden of disease in different Pacific ethnic groups. Thus, this study aims to explore T2D characteristics and medication use in different island groups of Pacific individuals in ANZ. Primary care clinical and demographic data was collected for Pacific patients with T2D aged ≥ 18 years from primary health organisations across Auckland and Waikato (n = 302 practices; February 2021 – July 2022). Most recent clinical measures (HbA1c, cholesterol, blood pressure) and diabetes medication use were recorded and compared between ethnic groups. Data was available for 10,414 Pacific patients, including 4031 Samoan, 2033 Tongan, 1513 Cook Island Māori, 1463 Fijian, 797 Niuean and 98 Tokelauan adults. HbA1c levels were highest in Tongan patients and lowest in Fijian patients (P < 0.001 vs other groups); and Cook Island Māori and Samoan patients had a higher proportion of patients with cardiovascular/renal disease than other ethnic groups. Metformin use was comparable across ethnic groups, but SGLT2i/GLP1RA prescribing was lowest in Fijian patients (36.6% vs 39.9%-48.8%; P < 0.001). The use of medications for cholesterol and blood pressure were comparable across groups. The study finds that there are distinct differences in the characteristics and medication use of Pacific patients with T2D. Care must be taken to not always review Pacific people as a collective group, but rather to explore their clinical and demographical differences with the aim of tailoring care to each ethnic group as required.
Open Access
The Geopolitics of Deep Sea Ports in the Pacific
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Naidu, Vijay; Lutu, Vasemaca; Asi, Claire
This paper examines the growing geopolitical contestation in the Pacific over funding deep-water port development and accessing terrestrial and marine resources including minerals, military safe harbours, and shipping lanes. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its funding of deep-water ports as part of the Maritime Silk Road (MSRI), have seemingly endangered the historical role and influence of certain western countries, engendering strategic responses by the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Bilateral and multilateral diplomacy, aid, technical assistance, and loans for major infrastructural development feature in this competition. This paper is based on research on the experiences of four Pacific Island Countries (PICs),1 namely Cook Islands, Tonga, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. For Pacific Small Islands Developing States (PSIDS), donor funding and technical assistance are welcomed, but the inherent geopolitical and resource interests associated with deep-water port resourcing is a major challenge. The heightened contestation has given PSIDS unprecedented leverage in negotiating infrastructural and development aid. It is argued that patronising attitudes in official statements and media commentaries are not conducive to cordial relationships with PICs (Blades 2021) nor are grand geopolitical strategies formulated in foreign capitals with no consultation with PSIDS' governments (Hawkins 2023).
Open Access
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund in the Pacific: Effectiveness and Shortcomings
(Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, 2024) Sale, Emma
This paper highlights the effectiveness and shortcomings of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Trust Fund in the Pacific. It focuses on the five recent funding cycles GEF-4 to GEF-8, spanning over two decades from 2006 to 2026. It draws from documented evidence, lived/worked experiences, and an analysis of available literature covering the period 2007 to 2023. The paper draws heavily on the author’s analyses of GEF data and is based on over two decades of development work experience in the Pacific region, which covers climate change and climate financing. The paper highlights how the collective efforts of the Pacific, as a region, can be optimized to effect much-needed changes within the GEF Trust Fund. These changes reflect a number of perceived weaknesses in the Facility including the slow-paced evolution of the GEF Trust Fund, the lack of scholarly research on climate change mitigation, and other issues pertaining to equity, and the lack of meaningful operationalization of the GEF Trust Fund. The paper concludes with a number of propositions including shifting from early wins and being a participant-controlled mechanism, to being people-centered and prioritizing local environmental benefits with dual impact on social protection.