Christopher Mudaliar
Resolving a fractured Nation: Fiji
Fiji has often suffered from a lack of state stability stemming from colonial legacies that artificially installed an ethnic divide. The often mentioned ‘coup’ culture that has pervaded Fijian politics since 1987 is arguably a result of weak ties towards the state, encapsulated through a national identity. The newly elected (2014) Fijian government led by Frank Bainimarama has signalled that it intends to strengthen these ties towards the state by implementing a new conception of national identity. The study will use a mixed methods approach in order to examine what the new ‘official’ conception of Fijian national identity represents, and its congruence with general attitudes towards national identity in Fiji. (Supervised by Michael Leach and Chris Agius).
Politics & History 