| Titre | Réformes foncières et groupements d'élevage mélanésiens en Nouvelle-Calédonie. Le contexte et ses enjeux | |
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| Auteur | C. Giry, P. Pillon | |
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Revue | Journal de la Société des Océanistes |
| Numéro | no 85, 1987 | |
| Rubrique / Thématique | Articles |
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| Page | 205-219 | |
| Résumé |
La Nouvelle-Calédonie est une des nombreuses sociétés où la division du travail tend à Source : Éditeur (via Persée) |
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| Résumé anglais |
New Caledonia is one of the many societies where occupational categories tend to coincide with ethnic groups. In this multi-ethnic society, 50 to 60 % of working Melanesians live off the land ; they account for more than 88 % of all those engaged in agriculture. The rural sector and its unequal land distribution are therefore at the heart of the ethnic mobilisation terising the political crisis that has built up over the past ten years. From 1978 to 1985, increasingly marked political divisions triggered the first land reforms in the Territory's history. These reforms should eventually double the present total area of Melanesian reserves on the mainland. By the end of 1985, 59 000 ha had been retroceded, with the provision that the land be developed. This situation has brought about an unprecedented increase in Melanesian joint stock- farms. Their number rose from 3 prior to 1978 to 71 in 1985. This has had many consequences for Melanesian agrarian structures. For instance, access to the coastal plains entails economic advantages that tend to reinforce discrepancies between villages, as is shown by transfers occurring between Melanesians of the newly retroceded land. Other internal redistributions, similarly demonstrate a trend towards reorganisation of pre-colonial land rights under the combined pressure of sédentarisation and the monetary economy. Furthermore, the extensive land areas required for livestock farming raises the problem of how to affect the transition from fragmented pre-colonial land rights to the pooling of resources required for large commercial ventures. Lastly, the land reforms enable adjustments to be made in the land access inequalities brought about by the combined action of precolonial land allocation patterns, unequal population growth among the groups, and the reservation system. But the long-term value of the reforms lies in the opportunity they afford for a re-balancing of economic conditions between the ethnic groups. Redistribution of lands and their deve- lopement are thus seen as a keystone for the overall evolution of the New Caledonian society. Source : Éditeur (via Persée) |
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| Article en ligne | http://www.persee.fr/doc/jso_0300-953x_1987_num_85_2_2579 |
