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The Indigénat and France’s Empire in New Caledonia

Origins, Practices and Legacies

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  • © 2022

Overview

Authors:
  1. Isabelle Merle

    1. Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France

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  2. Adrian Muckle

    1. School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

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    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • Illuminates the experiences of the Kanak people under colonial rule in New Caledonia
  • Examines the limits of the democractic and republican model in the French imperial context
  • Connects the history of New Caledonia with the wider apparatus of colonial governance

Part of the book series: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies (CIPCSS)

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Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
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  2. Introduction

    • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
    Pages 1-22

  3. The Indigénat Regime

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 23-23
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    2. An Exceptional Legal Regime

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 25-60

    3. Making the French “Native Subject” in Oceania

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 61-89

    4. Bringing the Indigénat to New Caledonia

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 91-117

  4. The Order of Practices: The Indigénat at Work

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 119-119
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    2. Establishing the Indigénat: The Era of the Administrators

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 121-153

    3. Stabilizing a Colonial Order: Gendarmes, Grands Chefs, and Petits Chefs

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 155-182

    4. Imposing the Head Tax

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 183-210

    5. Controlling Mobility and Residence

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 211-239

  5. The Indigénat and the “Native Condition” in the First Half of the 20th Century

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 241-241
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    2. The Impossible Reform: Debating the Indigénat in the Empire and New Caledonia

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 243-263

    3. Putting “Natives” To Work: The Indigénat and the Colonial Labor System Between the Wars

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 265-291

    4. The End of the Indigénat?

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 293-325

    5. Epilogue. Ongoing Debates

      • Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle
      Pages 327-343

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 345-373
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Keywords

About this book

This book provides a long history of France’s infamous indigénat regime, from its origins in Algeria to its contested practices and legacies in France’s South Pacific territory of New Caledonia. The term indigénat is synonymous throughout the francophone world with the rigours and injustices of the colonial era under French rule. The indigénat regime or 'Native Code' governed the lives of peoples classified as French 'native' subjects in colonies as diverse as Algeria, West Africa, Madagascar, Indochina and New Caledonia. In New Caledonia it was introduced by decree in 1887 and remained in force until Kanak — New Caledonia’s indigenous people — obtained citizenship in 1946. Among the colonial tools and legal mechanisms associated with France’s colonial empire it is the one that has had the greatest impact on the memory of the colonized. Focussing on New Caledonia, the last remaining part of overseas France to have experienced the full force of the indigénat, this book illustrates the way that certain measures were translated into colonial practices, and sheds light on the tensions involved in the making of France as both a nation and a colonial empire. The first book to provide a comprehensive history of the indigénat regime, explaining how it first came into being and survived up until 1946 despite its constant denunciation, this is an important contribution to French Imperial History and Pacific History.

Authors and Affiliations

  • Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France

    Isabelle Merle

  • School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand

    Adrian Muckle

About the authors

Isabelle Merle is Director of Research in the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) attached to the Centre for Research and Documentation on Oceania (CREDO) at the University of Aix-Marseille in France. She is a specialist in the history of colonisation and the Pacific region, including New Caledonia. Her publications include two books and a wide range of articles on aspects of colonial history, such as subjecthood and citizenship.



Adrian Muckle is a Senior Lecturer in the History Programme at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He is a historian of the Pacific Islands region including its intersection with histories of New Zealand and the French empire. His primary interests include colonialism, decolonisation, violence and race relations, with much of his research focussing on colonial rule and its legacies in New Caledonia.


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Indigénat and France’s Empire in New Caledonia

  • Book Subtitle: Origins, Practices and Legacies

  • Authors: Isabelle Merle, Adrian Muckle

  • Series Title: Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99033-6

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: History, History (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99032-9Published: 20 October 2022

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-99035-0Published: 21 October 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-99033-6Published: 19 October 2022

  • Series ISSN: 2635-1633

  • Series E-ISSN: 2635-1641

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVII, 373

  • Number of Illustrations: 5 b/w illustrations, 21 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Imperialism and Colonialism, History of France, Political History, Legal History

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