'Upside down decolonization' in subnational island jurisdictions : questioning the 'post' in postcolonialism

Abstract

Most subnational (and mainly island) jurisdictions around the world today are actively conspiring in the dogged pursuit of protracted and extended colonial relationships—what is referred to as “upside down decolonization”—rather than aspiring to full independence. Various metropolitan powers are also discovering that island territories can be excised and rejigged as jurisdictional enclaves, able to perform (and get away with) exceptional functions. These can range from detention centers to low-tax regimes, from military bases to exclusive processing zones. In spite of the lingering rhetoric about the virtues of sovereignty, these “infinite pauses” in decolonization call for a more adequate conceptual assimilation within postcolonial theory.