France and Oceanian Sovereignties

Abstract

The character of sovereignty in its constitution, expression, and experience across Pacific Islands has come into renewed focus over recent years. Decades after the onset of the post‐war period of decolonization and independence, non‐self governing French territories in Oceania are seeing communities chart and navigate new relationships with sovereignty conceptions and practices across local, regional, and global scales. These navigations often evidence striking articulations of authority, rights, governance, and law rooted in enduring cultural values of Pacific Islander communities. Drawing nuanced attention to divergent historical and contemporary articulations of sovereignties in French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna, and Vanuatu, the seven articles gathered here collectively highlight the comparabilities, diversities, and trajectories in how sovereignties are being negotiated and contested by different communities within France entangled Oceania. This collection brings into visibility the complicated field of actors maintaining, transforming, or seeking to summon, establish or disestablish forms of sovereignty on the ground in everyday Oceanian worlds.

How to Incorporate Cultural Values and Heritage in Maritime Spatial Planning (MSP): A Systematic Review

“…Contemporary research has shown that MSP often applies interdisciplinary approaches and practices to the use of available resources, extracting knowledge and information from oral traditions and local cultural values of indigenous peoples [85][86][87][88][89][90][91]. These practices are linked to mechanisms such as flexible user rights and land tenure, adaptations for the generation, accumulation and transmission of ecological knowledge, institutional dynamics, mechanisms for cultural internalization of traditional practices and associated worldviews and cultural values that contribute to both increased community solidarity, community engagement and voluntary compliance, providing proper 'rules' for marine and coastal ecosystem management [92,93]. Lavoie et al mention indigenous women's substantial contribution to preserving cultural values and the crossgenerational transfer of traditional knowledge and practices linked with the exploitation of natural resources [94].…”

How to Incorporate Cultural Values and Heritage in Maritime Spatial Planning: A Systematic Review

“…Contemporary research shows that coastal and marine management often applies interdisciplinary approaches and practices to the use of available resources, thus extracting knowledge and information from oral traditions and local cultural values of indigenous peoples [93][94][95][96][97][98]. These practices are linked to certain mechanisms, such as flexible user rights and land tenure, adaptations for the generation, accumulation, and transmission of ecological knowledge, institutional dynamics, mechanisms for cultural internalization of traditional practices and associated worldviews and cultural values that contribute to both increased community solidarity, community engagement, and voluntary compliance, thus providing proper "rules" for marine and coastal ecosystem management [99,100].…”

“…This is because their protection and development become the highest priority of indigenous communities [104]. The participation of local people is essential in planning and decision-making processes on issues related to the use and protection of the marine environment [94,96,99,105]. The exclusion of the local population from these processes jeopardizes the local community's trust, which is a prerequisite for efficient implementation [103].…”