Living Legacies

The weight of history presses heavily on these territories. The Caribbean departments carry the trauma of slavery and the plantation system. New Caledonia bears the scars of the penal colony and the marginalization of the indigenous Kanak people. French Polynesia grapples with the aftermath of nuclear testing. Réunion navigates its history as an uninhabited island that became home to people from Africa, Asia, and Europe.

"You cannot understand us without understanding this history," insists Christiane Taubira, the former French Minister of Justice from French Guiana. "But you also cannot understand us if you see only this history. We are not museums. We are living, evolving societies."

This book attempts to hold both truths: acknowledging the profound impacts of colonialism while centering the contemporary experiences and future aspirations of these territories' residents.