I Enlist, Therefore I Am. Rehabilitation Pathways through Military Enrollment in French Polynesia

Abstract

For many young Polynesians, the Service Militaire Adapté (SMA) represents one of the very few concrete possibilities for social and economic uplift, a springboard that makes it possible to turn marginality and precarity into opportunities for integration. This article explores the SMA as a military apparatus designed specifically for the French overseas territories, offering young people aged 18 to 25 – often excluded from educational and professional pathways – a route to rehabilitation through discipline and vocational training. Although it operates in a colonial context, and despite the progressive assumption by the military of functions beyond national defence – contributing to the militarization of civic, educational, moral, and socio-economic spheres, particularly in overseas territories – the programme is nevertheless perceived by its participants as an opportunity for personal and social rehabilitation.