The interface between affirmative action and neoliberalism: The case of Fiji

Abstract

The notions of affirmative action and neoliberalism may be theoretically contradictory since the former deals with state intervention and the latter with privatization, the reality can be quite complex as the case of Fiji suggests. In a situation where the state has an ideological obligation to pursue neoliberal policies and a political commitment to implement affirmative action programs, the role the state plays as political and economic mediator can be syncretic, that is, both accommodating and contradictory. The article examines the interface between affirmative action and neoliberalism in Fiji in the context of regime change through coups. It discusses the deployment of affirmative action programs as mitigation against neoliberal market competition and at the same time, how neoliberal policies were used as a means of achieving some objectives of affirmative action, in particular the economic empowerment of the indigenous Fijian middle class.