LSMPA Sovereignties in New Caledonia and French Polynesia: Territorialities, Alliances and Powers in Oceania

Abstract

Over the last decades, the establishment of large‐scale marine protected areas (LSMPA) in the Pacific Ocean has profoundly transformed the region's political geography. Pacific LSMPAs have played a striking role in converting Small Island Developing States (SIDS) into Large Ocean Island States (LOIS), generating a significant shift in regional and international politics. This paper is a new exploration of the ongoing political construction of the Ocean, at multiple scales and through different forms. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, an anthropological approach is used to investigate governance processes involving multiple actors shaping marine environmental policies in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, two French overseas territories. This research interrogates how territorial dynamics and sovereignty issues in the francophone Pacific are being driven and reshaped by the emergence of LSMPAs and offers an overview of current structural changes in Oceania.