Envisioning Kanak Independence: A Cosmopolitan Future?

Abstract

This article considers how the notion of independence might be reconciled with a cosmopolitan view of the world through an examination of how the Kanak independence movement in New Caledonia has envisaged the place of the non-Kanak majority in a future independent nation-state. By exploring the political thought of the late independence leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou on Kanak identity and its connection to Kanak independence, I explore how the Kanak independence movement engaged with the critique that it was intrinsically racist and exclusive. Drawing on literature that criticises the overbearing weight of Western universalism in cosmopolitan discourse, I show how Kanak independence calls for a moral re-centring of the political community that undermines French claims of a monopoly on universalism. I argue that Kanak views of independence reaffirm the possibility of locally constructed cosmopolitanisms.

Care, Cosmopolitanism, and Anthropology: Introduction to Special Section

“…A recent Special Issue of SiteS (George, Fitzgerald, and Jaye 2016) showcased Australian and New Zealand anthropological research into a variety of cosmopolitan theoretics. These included cosplay (Langsford 2016), multiculturalism in New Zealand urban settings (George 2016) and a Sydney suburb (Williamson 2016), romantic relationships conducted across national boundaries (McKenzie 2016), cyber-racism in Australia (Connolly 2016), inequity and social injustice (Lewis 2016;Robertson 2016), and biological cosmopolitanism (Herbst 2016).…”