Starting from the fertile and dynamic context of the Northern Province of New Caledonia and the recent construction of a nickel processing industry, the thesis aims to bring out the peculiarity of a milieu in which it is the indigenous population itself, or rather a significant part of it, to engage in a deconstruction of a demonic and colonial conception of industrialisation. With a mix of ethnography and theoretical references aimed at showing the interaction between actors, practices and discourses, the thesis is divided into three macro-sections (political, environmental and economic), each presenting a different reading lens to analyse the same "object of study”: the engagement of Kanak in the mining and metallurgical sector. Specifically, the first part analyses how the Kanak independentists, majority shareholders of one of the most important nickel treatment plants in the world, organise the problematic coexistence between capitalism and moral economies in a period marked by a process of decolonisation. In the second part, mining activity is re-read through the lens of Kanak metaphysics. By analysing the intersection between the mining economy and the invisible world of spirits and ancestors, we overcome the idea of a culture and economy considered as "outside" the environment. The third part, finally, is dedicated to bring out the intertwining of local governance and corporate governance, as well as the economic modalities of inclusion (and exclusion) of the local community in the Koniambo project. This ethnographic case is peculiar in that it reveals an intermediate space to the rigid dichotomy between subjection and resistance. Kanaks, by decolonising nickel, try to shake off their colonial heritage while knowing that they remain somehow prisoners of it. They choose to do so by unleashing from within those mechanisms of inequality and exclusion produced by colonial policies and the French mining monopoly. They re-appropriate the resource by rethinking it according to a model that wants to differ from that of the classic enclave. It is not so much a process of indigenisation but a desire to be in "modernity" and in the global marketplace, while at the same time bringing its own cultural imprint. This thesis is not limited to a neoliberal and post-colonial reading that focuses on the dimensions of violence and exploitation, reducing the colonial encounter/clash to rigid dichotomies. Focusing the ethnographic lens only on the action of extracting the resource and removing the earth, there is a risk of "extrahĕre", "drawing out", even those margins and residues where capitalism and culture come into relation and contribute to create the "local". It is to the mountain that we turn our ethnographic gaze instead. This is not a mere material substratum that is the background of the encounter between the multinational company and the landscape, but a set of environmental relations and therefore of cultural practices. The mountain is where economic and religious forces intersect, where the search for a balance between coutume and contemporary business practices is played out and new models are established that recognise the social connection of businesses. It is in this sense that the “minescape" appears as a co-habitation of spaces, a configuration of human and non-human actors that is never given once and for all.

A partire dal contesto fertile e dinamico della Provincia Nord in Nuova Caledonia e della recente costruzione di un’industria di trattamento del nichel (Koniambo-Nickel) la tesi vuole far emergere la peculiarità di un milieu nel quale è la popolazione autoctona stessa, o meglio una sua parte significativa, a impegnarsi a de-costruire una concezione demoniaca e coloniale dell’industrializzazione. Con un impianto che mescola etnografia e riferimenti teorici volto a far emergere in ogni parte l’interazione tra attori, pratiche e discorsi, la tesi è suddivisa in tre macro-sezioni che presentano ciascuna un focus diverso (politico, ambientale ed economico) da cui guardare lo stesso “oggetto di studio”: l’engagement dei Kanak nel settore minerario e metallurgico. Nello specifico, nella prima parte si analizza come gli indipendentisti kanak, azionisti maggioritari di uno dei più importanti impianti di trattamento del nichel al mondo, organizzano la problematica coesistenza tra il capitalismo e le economie morali in un periodo contrassegnato da un processo di decolonizzazione. Nella seconda parte, l’attività mineraria viene riletta attraverso la lente della metafisica Kanak. Analizzando l’intersezione tra l’economia delle miniere e il mondo invisibile degli spiriti e degli antenati, si supera l’idea di una cultura e di un’economia considerate come “fuori” dall’ambiente. La terza parte, infine, è dedicata a far emergere l’intreccio tra la governance locale e la governance d’impresa, così come le modalità economiche di inclusione (ed esclusione) della comunità locale nel progetto Koniambo. Il caso etnografico in questione risulta peculiare in quanto fa emergere uno spazio intermedio alla rigida dicotomia tra assoggettamento e resistenza. I Kanak, decolonizzando il nichel, cercano di scrollarsi di dosso l’eredità coloniale pur sapendo di restarne in qualche modo prigionieri. Scelgono di farlo disinnescando dall’interno quei meccanismi di diseguaglianza e di esclusione prodotti dalle politiche coloniali e dal monopolio minerario francese. Si riappropriano della risorsa ripensandola secondo un modello che vuole differire da quello della classica enclave. Non si tratta tanto di un processo di indigenizzazione ma di una volontà di esserci nella “modernità” e nel mercato globale, apportando al contempo la propria impronta culturale. Questa tesi non si limita ad una lettura neoliberista e post-coloniale che si concentra sulle dimensioni di violenza e sfruttamento riducendo l’incontro/scontro coloniale a delle rigide dicotomie. Focalizzando la lente etnografica soltanto sull’azione di estrazione della risorsa e di rimozione della terra, si rischia di “extrahĕre”, “trarre fuori”, anche quei margini e quei residui in cui il capitalismo e la cultura entrano in relazione e contribuiscono a creare la “località”. E’ alla montagna che invece si volge lo sguardo etnografico. Questa non è un mero sostrato materiale che fa da sfondo all’incontro tra la multinazionale e il paesaggio, bensì un insieme di relazioni ambientali e quindi di pratiche culturali. La montagna è laddove si intersecano forze economiche e forze religiose, in cui si gioca la ricerca dell’equilibrio tra la coutume e le pratiche imprenditoriali contemporanee e si stabiliscono nuovi modelli che riconoscono la connessione sociale delle imprese. E’ in questo senso che il minescape appare come una co-abitazione di spazi, una configurazione di attori umani e non umani che non si dà mai una volta per tutte.

(2020). LA MONTAGNA E IL CAPITALE. Etnografia di un progetto minerario indigeno kanak (Koniambo-Nickel, Nuova Caledonia). (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2020).

LA MONTAGNA E IL CAPITALE. Etnografia di un progetto minerario indigeno kanak (Koniambo-Nickel, Nuova Caledonia)

GENTILUCCI, MARTA
2020

Abstract

Starting from the fertile and dynamic context of the Northern Province of New Caledonia and the recent construction of a nickel processing industry, the thesis aims to bring out the peculiarity of a milieu in which it is the indigenous population itself, or rather a significant part of it, to engage in a deconstruction of a demonic and colonial conception of industrialisation. With a mix of ethnography and theoretical references aimed at showing the interaction between actors, practices and discourses, the thesis is divided into three macro-sections (political, environmental and economic), each presenting a different reading lens to analyse the same "object of study”: the engagement of Kanak in the mining and metallurgical sector. Specifically, the first part analyses how the Kanak independentists, majority shareholders of one of the most important nickel treatment plants in the world, organise the problematic coexistence between capitalism and moral economies in a period marked by a process of decolonisation. In the second part, mining activity is re-read through the lens of Kanak metaphysics. By analysing the intersection between the mining economy and the invisible world of spirits and ancestors, we overcome the idea of a culture and economy considered as "outside" the environment. The third part, finally, is dedicated to bring out the intertwining of local governance and corporate governance, as well as the economic modalities of inclusion (and exclusion) of the local community in the Koniambo project. This ethnographic case is peculiar in that it reveals an intermediate space to the rigid dichotomy between subjection and resistance. Kanaks, by decolonising nickel, try to shake off their colonial heritage while knowing that they remain somehow prisoners of it. They choose to do so by unleashing from within those mechanisms of inequality and exclusion produced by colonial policies and the French mining monopoly. They re-appropriate the resource by rethinking it according to a model that wants to differ from that of the classic enclave. It is not so much a process of indigenisation but a desire to be in "modernity" and in the global marketplace, while at the same time bringing its own cultural imprint. This thesis is not limited to a neoliberal and post-colonial reading that focuses on the dimensions of violence and exploitation, reducing the colonial encounter/clash to rigid dichotomies. Focusing the ethnographic lens only on the action of extracting the resource and removing the earth, there is a risk of "extrahĕre", "drawing out", even those margins and residues where capitalism and culture come into relation and contribute to create the "local". It is to the mountain that we turn our ethnographic gaze instead. This is not a mere material substratum that is the background of the encounter between the multinational company and the landscape, but a set of environmental relations and therefore of cultural practices. The mountain is where economic and religious forces intersect, where the search for a balance between coutume and contemporary business practices is played out and new models are established that recognise the social connection of businesses. It is in this sense that the “minescape" appears as a co-habitation of spaces, a configuration of human and non-human actors that is never given once and for all.
FAVOLE, ADRIANO
attività mineraria; capitalismo; sovranità; paesaggio; ambiente
mining; capitalism; sovereignty; landscape; ambiente
M-DEA/01 - DISCIPLINE DEMOETNOANTROPOLOGICHE
Italian
24-set-2020
ANTROPOLOGIA CULTURALE E SOCIALE
32
2018/2019
open
(2020). LA MONTAGNA E IL CAPITALE. Etnografia di un progetto minerario indigeno kanak (Koniambo-Nickel, Nuova Caledonia). (Tesi di dottorato, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 2020).
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10281/286132
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