Toxic colonialism: Between sickness and sanctuary on Ilet la Mère, French Guiana

Abstract

Since the establishment of slave plantations in French Guiana during the 17th century, the small island of Ilet la Mère, located 11 km from Cayenne, has functioned as site of confinement, refuge, and experimentation. These roles continued during and after the creation of France’s largest penal colony across the territory (1852–1953). This article identifies different phases of Ilet la Mère’s colonial and postcolonial histories, and argues that the island plays an integral role in the ongoing perception and administration of French Guiana as colonial outpost and underexploited natural resource. This involves frequent misconceptions that French Guiana itself is an island, and the metonymic evocation of its islands, notably Devil’s Island (one of the Salvation Islands) and Cayenne, to denote the entire territory. Such perceptions, applied from outside the territory, alongside local engagement with lesser-known islands like Ilet la Mère, contribute to the creation of a ‘toxic island ecology’. Toxicity, defined as more than contagion and contamination, incorporates other practices and discourses which work to draw attention away from environmental and human rights abuses taking place on the mainland. The article concludes with reflection on the island’s current usage as a nature sanctuary where visitors can interact with overly tame squirrel monkeys.

Indigenous Island Autonomy and Special Economic Zone Status: Developmental tensions of Jeju Free International City, South Korea

“…Discussion of SNIJ autonomy frequently overlooks or conceals the distribution of benefits and hazards among Indigenous and settler populations (Androus & Greymorning, 2016). Meanwhile, the metropolitan tendency to see certain kinds of islands primarily in terms of their geostrategic importance means that many colonised SNIJs have been extensively or even comprehensively militarised or carceralised, notwithstanding their Indigenous societies or purported autonomous statuses Na'puti, ; Grydehøj et al, 2021;Flint, 2021;Gonzalez, 2020;Fuggle, 2022Fuggle, , 2021.…”