The decolonization crisis in New Caledonia

Abstract

This paper analyses the origins of revolutionary anti-colonialism in New Caledonia. The development of capitalism in the colony, under direct French imperial control, has created a territory witb the most advanced development in the South Pacific. New Caledonia has served as both a colony of settlement and as a producer of raw materials, chiefly nickel and other minerals. A combination of unique features and consequences of capitalist development in New Caledonia has determined both the abnormally prolonged colonial status of the country and has generated powerful social forces that have favored the advent of a revolutionary situation. The major factor contributing to the anachronistic colonial status of the country is its possession of the largest known nickel reserves in the world. The international political economy of nickel must be understood in order to understand why New Caledonia is subject to unusually prolonged direct imperial control well into the era of neo-colonialism.

The conclusion is that while the unique characteristics of the development of capitalism in New Caledonia are the source of the subjective and objective prerequisites for the revolutionary anti-colonial movement, the superior coercive capability of the modern state and the ethnic divisions within the territory will preclude the possibility of successful social revolution in New Caledonia. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)