French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna in the 1980s

Abstract

France’s Polynesian territories experienced nowhere near the level of upheaval in New Caledonia during the 1980s.¹ Political developments during the decade displayed a distinct continuity with preceding years, both in the ideologies deployed and in the political personalities who took an active role in public life. Yet both French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna witnessed several dramatic episodes of political confrontation, as well as underlying socio-economic changes apt to recast political life. In addition, Paris granted French Polynesia a statute of autonomy which gave it a greater control of its own affairs than existed in any other overseas département or territory, and announced its intention to review the statute in force in Wallis and Futuna.