Politics in the Fiji Islands is characterised by competitive processes that draw on and reshape
ethnic cleavages. Indigenous Fijians and Indian indentured labourers were incorporated separately into the
colonial state and political economy under British rule. Institutionalised ethnic divisions were not
significantly restructured during Fiji’s negotiated independence in 1970. In the process of building a
national polity, these institutions embody a tension, being both a means to integrate ethnic groups into the
state and a means to perpetuate ethnic cleavages.
Throughout the Twentieth Century, ideologies of Indigenous paramountcy and individual equality
have competed in Fiji’s political dialogue. They represent different conceptions of political rights for ethnic
groups and individuals; differences not yet resolved into a conception of common national citizenship with
wide acceptance. The ideology of paramountcy and its ostensible incompatibility with equality has
structured the rhetorical shape of military and civilian coups overthrowing democracy in 1987 and 2000.
This political instability has severely impeded Fiji’s social, political and economic development.
This thesis focuses on contests between ideologies of Indigenous paramountcy and individual
equality in political dialogue in Fiji. It asks whether the concepts are necessarily incompatible. In showing
that they are not, it seeks mutual ground on which to base a conception of shared citizenship of an inclusive
national polity. This search invokes the idea that the centrality of paramountcy and equality to existing
political identities means political inclusiveness may be better achieved by building on these concepts, rather
than dismissing either. The thesis argues that notions of paramountcy and equality contain the potential for
an inclusive national polity that respects all its citizens and is attuned to the importance of protecting
Indigenous culture and socio-economic wellbeing.
Although many political actors in Fiji share this vision, ethnic polarisation in the wake of the 2000
coup enabled extremism to triumph in the 2001 national elections. The thesis draws its analysis from this
election campaign, as an intensified debate on paramountcy and equality. It emphasises the interconnections
between political dialogue and historical, cultural and socio-economic contexts. In particular,
the state threatens to impede social forces towards political inclusiveness. Its increasing role in advancing
individual economic and political opportunities according to ethnic membership is fostering an Indigenous
middle and elite class reliant on and promoting values of Indigenous privilege and political exclusion.