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Cosmopolitanization and localization

Ethnicity, class and citizenship among the Chinese of French Polynesia

Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, actremon{at}ens.fr, annect{at}free.fr

In the interest of contributing to the study of the Chinese diaspora as well as identity formation in Pacific societies, this article examines the historical transformation of Chinese identification in a French colony that has been turned into a French Overseas Territory. Identification consists in individual positioning within a field that is shaped by the changing configuration of global relations. I explain how this leads to a differential structuring of Chinese identifications between a `local' and a `cosmopolitan' pole. Instead of assuming that the descendants of Chinese migrants constitute a homogeneous entity, it is their differing identifications that are brought to the fore. I examine the conditions of possibility that might account for the sense of belonging to a `Chinese diaspora', and its relation to the maintenance of the ethnic Chinese category in French Polynesia. I stress the importance of observing the role ethnic categorization plays in this longue durée persistence.

Key Words: class citizenship • cosmopolitanism • diaspora • ethnicity • French colonies • French Polynesia • overseas Chinese

Anthropological Theory, Vol. 9, No. 1, 103-126 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1463499609103549


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