Empire and Erasure: A Case Study of Pitcairn Island

Abstract

Over the past few decades the Pacific region has undergone many changes through decolonization and postcolonial adjustment. Political change in new and existing Pacific nations is marked by efforts to reclaim identities, histories and futures. The smallest Pacific community with a separate identity is Pitcairn Island, the last British “colony” in the Pacific. Using critical ethnography this case study of Pitcairn examines the notion of erasure in relation to the history and politics of colonization and decolonization. Erasure is inextricably tied to the issue of power; the imbalance of power and the scrutiny of processes of social negotiation between centre and periphery. This paper argues that erasure has not been sufficiently well theorized in either island studies or postcolonial studies. As a subnational island jurisdiction the issue for Pitcairn is how to reclaim identity, maintain autonomy without sovereignty, and create a sustainable future for its small island community.

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