Toward a Viable Independence? The Koniambo Project and the Political Economy of Mining in New Caledonia

In New Caledonia, pro-independence leaders perceive economic autonomy as a prerequisite for political independence. The Koniambo Project, a joint venture between a Canadian multinational and a local mining company, is seen by many Kanak as an opportunity to loosen economic ties to metropolitan France. Indeed, unlike cases in which large-scale resource extraction has disadvantaged local groups and intensified demands for political rights, the Koniambo Project resulted from pro-independence activism. This atypical situation can be explained by the French government’s strategy in New Caledonia. Violent uprisings in the mid- 1980s ended with accords that promised economic development. Radical activists believed this would pave the way for independence while their opponents hoped to obviate such aspirations. Similarly, the Koniambo Project is viewed either as an opportunity for greater Kanak autonomy or as yet another in a series of actions that have used economic gains to deter pro-independence efforts

La micropolitique de la mine en Nouvelle-Calédonie

Cet article examine la micropolitique, au sein d’une communauté kanak, relative à un projet minier. Vu son importance politique et économique, les résidants locaux ont approuvé le projet dans l’ensemble. Des disputes ont cependant éclaté au sein des villages autour du massif. Dans le monde kanak, le prestige est acquis par la capacité de se dire membre d’un clan parmi les premiers arrivés dans un lieu, et donc en mesure de prendre toute décision liée à l’utilisation de la terre. Les gens ont vu dans la reconnaissance de ces droits par la compagnie minière, un moyen pour appuyer ou déstabiliser leurs positions sociales. Leurs attentes dans ce sens ont également influencé leurs discours sur les conséquences écologiques du projet ainsi que sur les risques de provoquer la colère des esprits ancestraux.This article examines the micropolitics within a Kanak community in New Caledonia, concerning a mining project. Because of its political and economic importance, local residents supported the project on the whole. However, disputes arose within the surrounding communities. In Kanak societies, prestige is acquired through the ability to claim membership of a clan that is among the first to arrive in a place, and thus has the right to make all decisions relating to land use. People viewed the recognition of these rights by the mining company as having the potential to either support or destabilise their social positions. People’s expectations in this regard also influenced their statements about the ecological consequences of the project as well as the risks of provoking the ancestors’anger

Populist Mobilization: A New Theoretical Approach to Populism*

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112280/1/j.1467-9558.2011.01388.x.pd

Who benefits? How interest-convergence shapes benefit-sharing and indigenous rights to sustainable livelihoods in Russia

The paper examines interactions of oil companies and reindeer herders in the tundra of the Russian Arctic. We focus on governance arrangements that have an impact on the sustainability of oil production and reindeer herding. We analyze a shift in benefit-sharing arrangements between oil companies and Indigenous Nenets reindeer herders in Nenets Autonomous Okrug (NAO), Russia, as an evolution of the herders’ rights, defined as the intertwined co-production of legal processes, ideologies, and power relations. Semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis demonstrate that in NAO, benefit-sharing shifted from paternalism (dependent on herders’ negotiation skills) to company-centered social responsibility (formalized compensation rules). This shift was enabled by the adoption of a formal methodology for calculating income lost due to extractive projects and facilitated by the regional government’s efforts to develop reindeer-herding. While laws per se did not change, herders’ ability to access compensation and markets increased. This paper shows that even when ideologies of indigeneity are not influential, the use of existing laws and convergence of the government’s and Indigenous groups’ economic interests may shift legal processes and power relations toward greater rights for Indigenous groups.</p

Indigenous peoples’ relationships to large-scale mining in post/colonial contexts: Toward multidisciplinary comparative perspectives

Because of their close relationships to the land, water, and resources therein, and their marginalized social and economic positions, Indigenous peoples living in current or former settler colonies are particularly vulnerable to mining's impacts, yet have the potential to benefit from its opportunities as well. This paper reviews the literature on large-scale mining projects’ relationships to Indigenous peoples in post/colonial contexts, focusing on Australia, Canada, Finland, Greenland, New Caledonia, Norway, and Sweden, in the aim of generating insights from comparative perspectives. First, we discuss differences in legal regimes governing Indigenous peoples’ rights and implications of those rights for negotiations over mining projects. Next, we examine, in turn, mining activities’ various impacts − environmental, economic, social − and how they specifically affect Indigenous communities. Finally, we explore ways that Indigenous communities living in a post/colonial context have addressed large-scale mining projects’ impacts by engaging with them, through both negotiation and resistance. We conclude by summarizing our findings on the relationships of Indigenous peoples to large-scale mining projects in the focus countries and identifying what gaps remain in the literature, and we provide thoughts as to how future research could address those gaps