'Fiji has a coup culture'

Discussing Fiji's ongoing political instability

Abstract

In this article I discuss Fiji's political instability, using the military coup of December 2006 and the discourse surrounding it as a starting point. My aim is to show that, while ethnic conflicts between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians of South Asian descent feature prominently in the rhetoric of those who staged Fiji's political coups of 1987, 2000 and 2006, Fiji's political instability is a far more complicated phenomenon, which is best understood with a focus on the country's complex social divisions and their importance for the agency of political elites. After discussing inter-ethnic, intra-ethnic and class divisions in Fiji from an ethnohistorical perspective, I focus on the local term 'coup culture' and its usage in contemporary politics. The rhetoric of a 'culture of coups' makes the agency of those behind Fiji's coups visible and aids them in articulating their very own political projects and agendas. Ultimately, this rhetoric helps to explain why five years later the military coup of 2006, which was justified as a 'clean-up campaign' against racism and corruption, has itself become a cause of political instability.