Reflections on Self-Determination in the South Pacific

Abstract

The experience of decolonization (and the subsequent consolidation of state systems) in the South Pacific provides useful insights into the justification for, and the scope and politics of, the principle of self-determination. On the whole the principle had little appeal in the region. The discourse of self-determination has been more important in relations between different indigenous communities than between them and the colonial powers. The assumptions underlying self-determination — sovereignty, political choice, statehood, independence — seemed at first sight to have little relevance to the small communities and islands of the region. Its major consequence, decolonization (over which no great battles were fought), was perhaps less important than the induction of these communities into the modern state system. In other parts of the world, self-determination has been the culmination of national consciousness and political struggles, but in the South Pacific (with one or two exceptions) it came first and has instead been the stimulus for political awareness and activity (having been grasped by the colonizers rather than the colonized). However, by inducting these communities into the world state system, the principle of self-determination has fundamentally altered the framework for political governance, leading to the centralization of power and diminishing the autonomy of communities. It may also have diminished the capacity to handle disputes, leading to their escalation so that drastic remedies appear to be the only solution to problems which are most appropriately dealt with under some form of decentralization. It has therefore, to some extent, shaped the discourse of politics.

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