Untangling Complexity: The Ethnic, Gender and Class Dimensions in Fijian Sport and Society

Abstract

The Pacific Island nation of Fiji, spanning 100s of islands, has been characterised by both geographical and ethnic divisions between, mainly, Indigenous Fijians and Fijians of Indian descent. The latter took shape in quite blatant forms in the island nation's historical tendency towards ethnic politics but has also been enacted across its sporting traditions. Today, while ethnic politics still exists to a degree, encouraged by ethnopolitical entrepreneurs, the reality is more nuanced. Divisions remain not only along the popularised lines of ethnicity but also across hierarchical, class and gender boundaries that have received somewhat less scholarly attention. This nuance is visible in the performance and packaging of Fijian sport and through the meanings that local people attach to it. This chapter, therefore, draws upon the experience of ethnographic fieldwork within and across Fijian subcultures with a focus on rugby and soccer. Inclusive of participant observation and interviews with diverse Fijian sporting stakeholders from differing intersections of local sport and society, the key threads above will be untangled to reveal a more three-dimensional and collective impression of contemporary Fiji.

Citation

Sugden, J. (2024), "Untangling Complexity: The Ethnic, Gender and Class Dimensions in Fijian Sport and Society", Kanemasu, Y. (Ed.) Towards a Pacific Island Sociology of Sport (Research in the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 22), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 123-142. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1476-285420240000022007