Fiji Culture Fiji Is a Multiethnic Society,

Fiji Culture

Fiji is a multiethnic society, and unfortunately the ethnic mix has lead to conflict and political instability since the country won its independence from Great Britain. Open ethnic competition in Fiji has led to the two main sides viewing the nation and its resources effectively as a zero sum game. As a result, when Indian-majority governments have been formed, the native Fijian response has been military coup. This has had a predictably negative impact on investment in the country (Pramdas, 1995).

Fiji's majority population consists of the native Melanesian group, the Fijians, and these have some Polynesian blood as well. This group has inhabited the islands for centuries. Ethnic Fijians account for 57.3% of the country's population. The second main group is the Indians, who were brought as indentured labourers during the British era. They comprise 37.6% of the population. Most of the Indian minority are Hindu, but there is a small percentage of Muslims as well. The third largest group in Fiji is the Rotumans. This group inhabits the Rothmans Islands. There are around 2000 Rotumans in Fiji, on their home islands. Rotumans are a mix of Melanesian, Polynesian and Micronesian ancestry. There are other small minorities in Fiji as well, including Chinese, European and other Pacific Islander. The other minorities totaled equal 3.9% of the population (IndexMundi, 2010).

There are two other interesting dimensions to the Fijian ethnic mix. The first is that ethnic Fijians were once the minority on the islands. The political turmoil, however, has lead to emigration from the Indo-Fijian community, to the point were ethnic Fijians are once again the majority in the country. The other interesting dimension is that Indo-Fijians are concentrated in urban areas and near the sugarcane fields. Native Fijians are more widely dispersed throughout the country.

With respect to Fiji's cultural dimensions, the conflict shapes much of the dimensions. For the outsider doing business in Fiji, knowledge of local sensitivities is required when dealing with Fijians of either main race. Outsiders are not typically involved in the political issues between the two groups and should do their best to keep it that way.

Greet Hofstadter's (2009) cultural dimensions can be used to help analyze Fiji's cultural dimensions. Fiji is not specifically studied, however, so some of the dimensions must be inferred. India is studied, and can be used as a somewhat imperfect predictor of the Indo-Fijian community. This community has a high level of power distance, which means that Indo-Fijians do not typically delegate authority. Those in charge will make all of the decisions and their society expects this. There is moderate individualism, but a lower level than would be normal in Australia. Indian culture is predominantly masculine, and therefore focused on aggression and competition. Indian culture has a relatively low level of uncertainty avoidance. They are probably the more tolerant of the two main cultures and are more flexible as a result. Indo-Fijians tend to have a relatively long-term time orientation, in particular when compared with Australians.