Decolonizing Regional Politics in Oceania: Re-examining the Historical Record

Contemporary scholarship on the decolonization of regional organizations in Oceania has emphasized the agency of Indigenous leaders and the extent to which they led the charge to both decolonize the South Pacific Commission and to set up a new regional organization, namely, the South Pacific Forum, in which political issues could freely be discussed. In doing so, there has been a tendency to treat the colonial powers as a homogeneous group all reading from the same imperial script while Pacific Island leaders are often portrayed as a largely unified ensemble of players whose own agendas naturally harmonized around the project of decolonization. In re-examining the historical record, this article highlights the diversity of approaches evinced by actors on the regional stage leading up to the formation of the South Pacific Forum in 1971, showing that there are many more nuances to the story.