Guillaume Aleveque 's contribution to ESFO 2025 conference

Sovereignty in the margins of the state. Heritage, representativeness and territory in French Polynesia

Abstract :

In the specific historical context of French Polynesia, where pre-colonial institutions have almost totally disappeared under the legislative pressure of the State, and where the status of autonomy allows for a profound political ambiguity, one dimension of sovereignty can only be grasped in the margins of direct contestation with the State. In this respect, a whole range of cultural affirming practices cannot be looked at as just symbolic ways of emphasizing autochthony and belonging. On the contrary, by taking these really diverse and sometimes ephemeral social phenomena into account, we can better understand the social and historical dynamics of sovereignty, defined here as a political arena and aim, rather than as an attribute of power. This presentation examines three contemporary revitalization collectives in Tahiti whose claims are distinct, but have in common the reappropriation of pre-colonial and pre-Christian heritage as a resource for challenging the representativeness of the State and reassessing the definition and uses of territory (te fenua): the Haururu association, which makes culture the heart of a revival of the Polynesian personhood and society; Te Hivarereata, with its emancipatory neopaganism; and the more recent royalist claims of a local branch of the Polynesian kingdom of Atooi. Each in their own way, these collectives all question the boundaries of sovereignty.