The Historical Dictionary of Fiji contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 300 cross-referenced entries on important ...personalities, politics, economy, foreign relations, religion, and culture. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Fiji.
The September 2014 elections in Fiji was one of the most anticipated in the history of the country, coming after eight years of military rule and under a radically new constitution that introduced a ...system of proportional representative (PR) and without any reserved communal seats. The election was won overwhelmingly by FijiFirst, a party formed by 2006 coup leader Frank Bainimarama. He subsequently embarked on a process of shifting the political configuration of Fijian politics from inter-ethnic to trans-ethnic mobilisation. The shift has not been easy in terms of changing people’s perceptions and may face some challenges in the longer term, despite Bainimarama’s clear victory in the polls. Ethnic consciousness has the capacity to become re‑articulated in different forms and to seek new opportunities for expression. This book explores these and other issues surrounding the 2014 Fiji elections in a collection of articles written from varied political, intellectual and ideological positions.
This book analyses the problematics of archaeological heritage management in the Canary Islands, which are echoed in other parts of the world where the indigenous heritage is under-represented. The ...present-day management of Canarian archaeological heritage has a very specific and unusual context given that the archipelago is located on the fringes of Europe, belonging to Spain and therefore to the European Unión, but geographically and in terms of early history being part of Africa. From a theoretical perspective, then, the proposed book analyzes issues such as the effects of colonialism and eurocentrism on the management of the archaeological heritage. It also examines the evolutionist and historico-cultural models used to analyze past societies and, ultimately, used to create identities that influence archaeological heritage management itself.
From a practical point of view, the book presents a proposal for enhancing the archaeological heritage of the Canary Islands through the creation of archaeological parks (providing some concrete examples in the case of the city of La Laguna) and the active involvement of the local community. Parallel to this, the book considers the Canarian Archipelago as part of a problematic that is not unique to this area but is an example of poor indigenous heritage management overall. It demonstrates how the course of history and the politics of the past still have an excessive influence on the way in which the present-day archaeological heritage is interpreted and managed.
Therefore, this book provides an almost unique opportunity for uncovering the history of archaeology within the margins of Europe (in fact, in an African region) and exploring colonial and foreign influences. In many ways it is a mirror of archaeological mainstreams and an exercise in (re)thinking the aim and status of present-day archaeology.
Dr Parke’s monograph examines how Fijians, especially in western areas of Fiji, currently understand and explain the origins and development of the social and political divisions of late pre-colonial ...traditional Fijian society. It assesses the reasoning, consistency and, where possible, the historical accuracy of such understandings. The oral history research which forms the backbone of the study was conducted in either standard Fijian or one or other of the western Fijian dialects with which Dr Parke was familiar. The period on which the monograph concentrates is the two centuries or so immediately prior to the Deed of Cession on 10 October 1874. A number of the major chiefs of Fiji had offered to cede Fiji to Queen Victoria; and after the offer had been accepted, Fiji became a British Crown Colony on that day. The volume will be of interest to all archaeologists, anthropologists and historians with an interest in Fiji. It will also be of wider interest to Pacific Studies scholars and those of British colonial history as well as historians with a wider interest in indigenous traditional histories and their role in governance today.
This private sector assessment reviews Fiji's private sector environment in 2006-2012, against recommendations made in the Asian Development Bank (ADB) publication "2005 Promise Unfulfilled: Private ...Sector Assessment for Fiji". While Fiji has made considerable reform progress in a number of areas (including tax reforms, encouraging telecommunications competition, and reducing barriers to foreign investment), it still faces considerable challenges in responding to a range of macroeconomic shocks following the global economic crisis, and political and policy uncertainty at home.
Through Dr Lal’s refreshingly clear and powerful prose and sharply observed stories, we enter the inner world of Indo-Fijian feeling and aspiration. One universal that emerges with particular clarity ...in the Indo-Fijian experience is the ceaseless struggle to find community in a changing world, balancing the beauty of ritual and tradition against the transcendent value of education and modern rationality. The volume poses the question of how people draw upon historical memory and immediate circumstances to create a social world, and how that world can be shared with others in multicultural society. The answer seems to lie somewhere between history and poetry, as in Dr Lal’s ‘factions.’ Andrew Arno University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu
“It is a milestone in subaltern studies, a biographical journey penned by a living relic of the indentured experience and a scholar whose thoroughly interdisciplinary approach is a good example for ...the anthropologist, the sociologist or the economist who wish to see the proper integration of their disciplines in a major historical work.” Brinsley Samaroo, University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, Trinidad “Professor Lal has made a most distinguished contribution to scholarship on Indian indentured labour in Fiji. His research is characterised by the use of new methodological approaches to the study of history, and by a comprehensive consideration of both quantitative and literary sources. In beautifully written articles, he has arrived at fresh and novel findings.” Ralph Shlomowitz, Flinders University of South Australia “Professor Lal has produced a body of work which makes him the premier scholar of the Indian diaspora. His meticulous research, the depth of scholarship, the empathy, and the elegance have earned him great respect among Indian diaspora scholars. The themes covered in this book are relevant to other overseas Indian communities; and they are handled with such mastery that his reputation is secured.” Clem Seecharan, University of North London “Brij Lal’s Chalo Jahaji is an intensely personal journey through his life and that of the 60,000 Indians who became girmitiyas in Fiji. The intricate history is measured, but Lal reveals himself and his family in a way historians seldom do. This proud grandson of a girmitiya is equally a proud son of Fiji. Chalo Jahaji is Pacific history at its best: rigorous and critical, informative and involved.” Clive Moore, University of Queensland
A racially-weighted Constitution, promulgated by decree in 1990, divided the country and invited international condemnation, and the economy suffered from the collapse of institutions of good ...governance. In 1995, an independent Constitution Review Commision appointed by the Fijian parliament, recommended wide-ranging changes to the Constitution. Its report formed the basis of a new Constitution promulgated, after wide-ranging consultation and debate, in 1997. Two years later, Fiji held a general election under it. This collection of essays looks at the politics and dynamics of that momentous event, and the role of key individuals and institutions in producing an outcome that, a year later, plunged Fiji into its first major crisis of the twenty-first century. The essays look at some of the key political and development issues on the eve of the crisis, but the relevance to the current debates about the nature and meaning of politics in Fiji remains. All the contributors are recognised and longstanding specialists in their fields.
“A wonderfully rich, insightful and personally touching collection of essays by the Pacific region’s most prolific and engaging historian. Brij Lal writes eloquently
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