Serge Tcherkezoff's contribution to the ESFO 2025 conference

The French word trap in the status of French Polynesia and Kanaky-NC: people vs. population, community vs. collectivity, sovereignty vs. autonomy

Abstract In terms of local political decision-making, the French overseas collectivities (COMs) in the Pacific may be said to have acquired a certain degree of autonomy, following extensive transfers of powers. But there are still unshakeable colonial foundations, beyond what are still cited as reserved rights (defence, currency, relations with neighbouring states) and appear (wrongly) to be the only colonial bastion still in operation. These foundations concern: 1) the very notion of “people”, which is a prerequisite for talking about the rights of peoples to self-determination, but denied by the French Constitution if applied to a French overseas COM, 2) the notion of “community", which is much more than a collectivity, but does not apply to the French COMs, and 3) the ambiguities surrounding the notion of “autonomy” which, surprising as it may appear to non-French Polynesia ears, became the motto and flagship of anti-independence leaders in French Polynesia.