Colonial grievances, justice and reconciliation in the Pacific

Abstract

The paradox of the decolonization process in the Pacific is that colonial grievances seem to have proliferated in the recent past. Indeed, anticolonial sentiments often seem to be more directly spurred by the process of decolonization than by the practices of colonial regimes revelling in earlier peaks of power. This workshop was concerned with the question how to address this contemporary form of counter-hegemonic resistance in the Pacific. The aim of the session was, first, to examine the similarities and differences in colonial grievances throughout the Pacific and, second, to discuss the various strategies that may be developed to establish justice and to realize reconciliation.