Fiji in Transition: Research Papers of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission, and: Fiji and the World: Research Papers of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission (review)

Fiji in Transition: Research Papers of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission, volume 1 (ISBN 982-01-0333-9; vii + 312 pages, tables, figures, notes, bibliography) and Fiji and the World: Research Papers of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission, volume 2 (ISBN 982-01-0334-7; vii + 358 pages, tables, appendix, notes, bibliography). Both volumes edited by Brij V Lal and Tomasi R Vakatora. Suva: School of Social and Economic Development, University of the South Pacific, 1997. Paper. Each US$30; both US$55.

In contrast to earlier constitutional reviews in Fiji, the 1995-1996 Fiji Constitution Review Commission demonstrated a genuine desire to investigate the dynamics of multiracial societies and to recommend constitutional changes that might reduce the paramountcy of racial politics and check Fiji's political drift toward authoritarianism. Time will tell how successful the commissioners were, but there can be no doubting that--as a result of their work--for the first time in Fiji's constitutional history the institutions of civil society now have an opportunity to act as a counter to the dominance of political institutions. Many of the articles presented here by two of the commissioners in this two-volume set of the Commission's research papers acknowledge the importance of civil society in this regard.

Volume 1, Fiji in Transition, is primarily concerned with matters internal to Fiji. While no paper directly researches the consequences of the two coups in 1987, this is central to the concerns of many of the volume's contributors, although the way each approaches the subject is widely different. Paul Geraghty rails against "westernization" and multiracialism (English, he says, is only useful "to prepare oneself for residence overseas"), and claims that only Fijianization can restore harmony to the islands (20). Instead Vijay Naidu and Isimeli Cokanasiga argue separately for multiracial accommodation and declare education central to national integration. Cokanasiga believes it is "the main instrument for the development of society" and calls for a massive investment in education (229). In terms of accommodation, Naidu additionally argues that English serves as an important neutral language (a point raised later by Alison Quentin-Baxter with regard to Mauritius in volume 2), but is adamant that its provision should never be used as an excuse not to teach all Fiji's children the country's two main languages--Fijian and Hindi (191). Accommodation is also at the heart of Subramani's paper on civil society. Colonialism provided civil society little scope for development; nor, as it transpired, did postcolonialism. Fiji, Subramani declares, must recognize that it is multicultural, that multiculturalism is its social reality. Its political structures must reflect this reality also. Only then will Fiji be able to achieve the necessary sense of security and stability to develop (40).

Most of the volume's other writers would agree. Ilaitia Tuwere and Paula Niukula both examine the role of religion in Fiji, particularly the coups' fostering of religious fundamentalism and nationalism. They argue for pluralism and religious freedom, while Imrana Jalal argues for gender equality. Gender issues gained new prominence in Fiji after 1990, because the postcoup constitution deliberately sought to reinforce female disadvantage. But in doing so it provided new points of contact that cut across nationalist definitions of race, as did a number of other colonial legacies. They too did not fit well with the postcoup order, as Annelise Riles describes with regard to "mixed race" peoples. National unity had to accommodate differences, not exclude them. A similar plea is found in Teresia Teaiwa's paper on Kioa and Rabi Islanders and Alan Howard and Janet Rensel's paper on Rotumans. No strategies are provided here, but David Forsyth's paper on the Fiji economy (the only such paper in this collection) demonstrates one important consequence. Fiji's failure to accommodate difference, he says, has produced an uncertain investment environment...