Dr. Susan Dewey and Dr. Robert F Dewey will undertake research on the relation between segregated schooling, ethnic stereotyping, and political violence in Fiji. Modern Fiji is home to two distinct ethnic groups which constitute parallel but interdependent societies: one composed of indigenous Pacific Islanders and the other composed primarily of the descendants of indentured laborers brought from India under British colonial rule to work on sugar plantations. The country has experienced four coups in the past two decades in which ethnicity has intersected with socio-economic and political issues.
In this pilot research, the investigators will observe and conduct studies in four schools, urban and rural indigenous Fijian schools and urban and rural Indo-Fijian schools, spending three months at each site. They will focus on the presentation of ethnicity in the schools and outside of them. They will employ a multi-faceted methodology that includes the use of interviews, structured surveys, participant observation in segregated schools, and life histories. The twelve month project will be divided into four equal time blocks in three regions: Suva (the ethnically balanced southeastern capital city), Ba (a northwestern and predominantly Indo-Fijian sugar town) and the Sigatoka Valley (a southwestern agricultural region with numerous indigenous Fijian village schools).
The research is important because it will illuminate scientifically the political and social processes by which colonial ethnic inequalities persist in contemporary societies. Post-colonial ethnic conflict is a widespread problem. Fiji provides a useful arena in which to develop a generalizable theory about how and why this is so. The results of this research will be of use to social science theorists and to policy makers in Fiji and elsewhere.
