Author Description

"This extensively revised edition of "Race and politics in Fiji", first published in 1977 is the most comprehensive sociological study available of the development of Fiji as a national society. It analyses the character of the conflict and cooperation from the establishement of colonial rule to the military coup of 1987. Until 1916 the British rulers recruited labourers from India. Most made Fiji their home and ther descendants eventually slightly outnumbered the Fijians. The cultural, economic, and social division is profound, and the Indian farmers dependence on leases of Fijian land has been a major source of contention. Yet class has also been an important dimension of Fiji's modern society. Indeed the multi ethnic labour movement became the strongest in the Pacific Islands and an important force in the overthrow of the Alliance Government in 1987. Robert Norton gives special attention to factors that have constrained the racial conflict even in the post-coup crisis. A new perspective on the the politics of culture and identity emerges from the contrasts he draws with the more volatile conflict in Sri Lanka." -- Back cover.