Declarations of ‘Self-Reliance’: Alternative Visions of Dependency, Citizenship and Development in Vanuatu

Abstract

This article discusses how dependency's antonym, ‘self-reliance’ expresses and shapes aspirations for development, and ideas about citizenship in Vanuatu. This ‘keyword’ was popularized in the process of decolonization and nation-building in Vanuatu, and influenced by Dependency Theory, Pan-Africanism, Black Internationalism, and trans-Pacific visions of decolonization and development. But vernacular ideas of ‘self-reliance’ also articulate different aspirations for development at ‘grassroots’ community level, as will be shown in two case studies. The first is a community with a high degree of engagement in New Zealand's seasonal worker programme. The second is around the cultivation of kava — a plant with relaxant and soporific properties — for burgeoning domestic and export markets.