Corporal destinies

Faith, ethno-nationalism, and raw talent in Fijian professional rugby aspirations

Bibliographic Data

ID2226238
AuthorsDaniel Guinne, Daniel Guinness (University of Amsterdam, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume8
Issue1-2
Pages314-328
Publication date2018-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHau Journal of Ethnographic Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2049-1115 • E-ISSN: 2575-1433
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/698267
OpenAlexW2809282168
LanguageEN
Citations received12
References cited41

Many young itaukei (indigenous) Fijian men train daily in the hope of becoming professional rugby athletes, despite the difficulty of this unpaid work and the uncertainty of the overseas careers to which they aspire. Rugby players and their families draw on a sense of destiny grounded in three ideologies of success to understand and control their futures. First, many view rugby in terms of an indigenous warrior ideal imagined as innate to itaukei men. Second, most Fijians link godliness, moral discipline, and religiosity to professional success. Third, they increasingly draw on ideas of natural talent, genetics, and pedigree widely held in global rugby. Ethnography among Fijian rugby players both in Fiji and abroad shows that this sense of destiny includes the future orientation of hope, but adds a moral imperative for action. Reading these emic conceptions of the future in terms of corporal and spiritual destiny highlights their influence not just on individual aspirations but also on social and political life, revealing both the power and limits of destiny as an analytical tool

Destiny (ISS module · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Faith · Ideology · Indigenous · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Sociology · Gender Studies · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society