ABSTRACT
The historical trajectory of the French overseas territory of New Caledonia bears the hallmark of the entanglements between settler colonization, spatial and racial segregation, and mining activity. This chapter first presents a historical overview of mobility patterns linked to, or induced by, mining in New Caledonia and then focuses on the locality of Thio, a historical and emblematic nickel mining site in the South Province on the main island of Grand Terre. The analysis explores how mobility has shaped residential and identity patterns (within and between ethnic groups, and along other lines of affiliation) as well as local arenas and governable spaces in Thio. Drawing on three case studies, the third part of the chapter discusses how Thio as a locality has been constructed and transformed by the interplay of mining, mobility, and place-based attachment, including customary land ownership. A key argument of the chapter is that the whole territory of New Caledonia can be conceptualized as a single mining enclave, albeit one which is far from homogeneous – hence the need to also explore local-level and multi-scalar linkages. The chapter also aims to demonstrate why the study of the mining-mobility nexus needs to consider all the forms of human and material (nonhuman) mobilities, flows, and overflows triggered by mining activities.
