Mr. Jope Tarai1
1Australian National University, Australia
Biography:
Jope Tarai is an Indigenous Fijian and Pacific scholar pursuing a Ph.D. in Digital Politics, at the Department of Pacific Affairs, in ANU. He was awarded a gold medal for the most outstanding Master of Arts Thesis titled Collective Diplomacy: A case study of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, at the University of the South Pacific (USP). Jope has extensive work-related experience in Pacific regionalism and development, having worked at the University of the South Pacific and connected networks with other crop agencies. His research interests and publications include Pacific politics, regionalism, collective diplomacy, digital politics, and Pacific development.
Abstract:
Fiji’s tumultuous politics has been animated with coups and extreme expressions of indigenous rights, manifestly in ethno-nationalism. Central to this tumultuous politics is the role and self-assumed function or relevance of the military towards Fiji as a nation-state. The military served in the interests of ethno-nationalism in the 1987 coup, which was a complete contrast to the 2006 coup. This contribution discusses the self-assumed role, function and relevance of the military in Fiji, within the broader conceptions of Indigenous Rights. It details the debates around Indigenous Rights in Fiji and the self-assumed role of the military. The contribution offers an insight into the complex notion of indigenous rights in a country where indigenous Fijians are numerically the majority in the military as well as the nation-state.