[ANU Pacific.Institute] CHL PhD MTR: Opening roads through kastom: vernacular diplomacies in Vanuatu

[Christopher Ballard]

[Australian National University]

PhD Thesis
Mid Term Review

[https://files.outfit.io/media_library_items/588431/Kalsakau%2520Macron%2520and%2520Plasua%2520260723.jpg]

Photo Courtesy: Ludovic Marin / AFP

You are invited to CHL PhD Candidate Anna Naupa's Mid Term Review:



Opening roads through kastom: vernacular diplomacies in Vanuatu<https://chl.anu.edu.au/event/opening-roads-through-kastom-vernacular-diplomacies-vanuatu-chl-phd-mid-term-review>



Time: 2pm to 3pm AEDT
Date: Friday, 22 March 2024
Speaker: Anna Naupa, PhD Candidate, CHL-ECDI
Venue: Engma Room 3.165, HC Coombs Building & Online via Zoom<https://anu.zoom.us/j/87094604439?pwd=ZkpLaVBHZktQOTFFMDNOV2p2SDllZz09>
Meeting ID: 870 9460 4439
Passcode: 689488

When Vanuatu Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau Maau’koro and French President Emmanuel Macron held high-level talks on 27 July 2023, their backdrop was the colourful and vibrant 7th Melanesian Arts and Cultural Festival (MACFEST). Following a series of traditional welcomes, including one by the Paramount Chief of Ifira island in Port Vila harbour, Kalsakau’s ancestral home, Kalsakau and Macron agreed to resolve the long-standing maritime boundary dispute over the Matthew and Hunter islands in southern Vanuatu before the year was out. New Caledonian President Louis Mapou was present in the talks, and, when prompted by Macron allegedly advised that Kanaky chiefs had already confirmed through kastom that the contested islands are traditionally bound to southern Vanuatu, captured in the Keamu Accord. The talks were then sealed with the sharing of kava, as per kastom protocol.

The intentional use of kastom or indigeneity in statecraft is a form of what I call vernacular diplomacy. My PhD research explores how the concept of the kastom roads in Vanuatu’s vernacular diplomacies has utility in understanding how diverse cultural identities form, adapt and traverse socio-political boundaries, including when a homogenous kastom identity is appropriated by the state for diplomatic outcomes. Effective navigation of kastom roads across cultural and state structures requires skilled actors, often emergent elites – whom I refer to as vernacular diplomats – who have bounded identities as well as a deep understanding of all systems relevant to the success of a diplomatic encounter.

For more information, contact

anna.naupa at anu.edu.au<mailto:anna.naupa at anu.edu.au>

The Australian National University,
Canberra

TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12002
(Australian University)

CRICOS Provider : 00120C
ABN : 52 234 063 906

[Australian National University]


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