The Military Coups in Fiji

Reactive and Transformative Tendencies

Dados Bibliográficos

ID6233451
AutoresSteven Ratuva (0000-0002-2393-4581, University of Auckland, autor correspondente)
Ano2011
Volume19
Fascículo1
Páginas96-120
Data de publicação2011-04-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAsian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0218-5377 • E-ISSN: 1750-7812
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02185377.2011.568249
OpenAlexW2013355505
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas6
Referências citadas24

Since 1987 there have been six coups altogether in Fiji. The article examines the reactive and transformative nature of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, hereafter referred to as Fiji military, and coups and their impact on the small multi-cultural country of 850,000 people. The coups in Fiji have to be seen in the light of the two separate but related developments, namely the historical dynamic interplay between politics and ethnicity and secondly, how the military itself has evolved as a state institution and how it perceived its role in the modern state system. Although the military is modelled along the lines of a praetorian institution, its perceived role has often shifted from being guardian of indigenous Fijian interests to protector of the multi-ethnic state. The interventionist tendency of the military was largely in response to the way in which the interplay between politics and ethnicity had played a part in creating discord and tension. All the six coups in Fiji were linked and need to be understood in relation to each other. The 2006 coup was the most politically transformative as some of the most powerful institutions were weakened and reconfigured and a new order created under the guise of a ‘clean-up campaign

Development economics · Ethnic group · Indigenous · Institution · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · The Republic · Transformative learning · Gender Studies · Island Studies and Pacific Affairs · Law