Governing social uncertainties. Political belonging and practices of (in)visibility of marginalized bodies in Mā’ohi Nui/French Polynesia
Social problems – such as poverty, unemployment, criminality – are periodically placed at the center of political debates on how welfare policies may better govern the intrinsic revolutionary potential and lurking uncertainties inscribed in such precarious living conditions. Yet, the root causes of...
Enregistré dans:
| Dans: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/anuac, |
|---|---|
| Auteur principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Anglais |
| Publié: |
Anuac
2026
|
| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | Social problems – such as poverty, unemployment, criminality – are periodically placed at the center of political debates on how welfare policies may better govern the intrinsic revolutionary potential and lurking uncertainties inscribed in such precarious living conditions. Yet, the root causes of social marginality are often bypassed if not actively hidden in these policymaking processes. Welfare strategies thus often function as ambivalent instruments of governance, simultaneously offering support while shaping marginalized and potentially threatening segments of the population. The implementation of such strategies reverberates in people’s lives and perceptions, giving rise to particular processes of subjectification and new forms of political belonging. In Mā’ohi Nui/French Polynesia, as in other French overseas territories and departments, the Régiment du Service Militaire Adapté functions as a vocational boarding school aimed at supporting struggling youth. This paper examines the tension between the implementation of social policies and the myriad individual agencies of local actors. It asks how Indigenous youth are represented as marginal or struggling, and which ethnocultural, moral, and aesthetic registers are mobilized to craft “the Polynesian” youth. |
|---|