Sugar and Democracy in Fiji: the Material Foundations of Post-Colonial Authoritarianism 1970-2005

10.26686/wgtn.16967521 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Keiran Barbalich

Keyword(s):

Land Tenure ◽

Political Institutions ◽

Sugar Industry ◽

Market Price ◽

World Market ◽

Post Colonial ◽

Tenure System ◽

Land Rents ◽

Land Tenure System ◽

Sugar Exports

<p>Fiji became independent in 1970, and functioned for 17 years under a constitution with democratic elements, including elections. Three times since 1987, however, armed force has overthrown constitutionally elected governments. Some observers see this as a failure of the consolidation of Fijian democracy, while others acknowledge the facade of Fijian democracy. Among those who acknowledge Fiji's authoritarian institutions, conflict persists as to whether authoritarianism is the inevitable product of ethnic conflict in Fijian society, or a consequence of post-colonial institutional legacies. No movement toward democracy in Fiji is likely to succeed until we understand the material foundations underlying Fiji's authoritarian politics. This thesis argues that Fiji' authoritarian political institutions, established under colonial rule, have been sustained since independence by forces in the international economy. These forces have helped to maintain the economic, social and political dominance of a Pacific-Fijian chiefly elite over Fijian society. Specially, chiefly control of the sugar industry, Fiji's principal export, has provided chiefs with sufficient patronage resources to retain their control over Fijian society through electoral politics or, at the event of undesirable electoral outcomes, through armed opposition. Through post-colonial structures, the chiefs control the land-tenure system, and through their setting and receipt of land rents, they have been the principal beneficiaries of Fiji's sugar exports. This comparatively inefficient industry, and the social and political institutions that it rests on, have survived because Fiji, as party to the European Union's Sugar Protocol, has received two-and-a-half to three times the world market price for its sugar exports between 1975 and 2009. This thesis makes its case through close textual analysis of Fiji's three constitutions, detailed inspection of Fiji's land-tenure system, and, specifically, the accounts of the Native Land Trust Board, as well as examination of the secondary literature on Fiji's sugar industry.</p>

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Agricultural Development in Taiwan under Japanese Colonial Rule

The Journal of Asian Studies ◽

10.2307/2050238 ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 555-570 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Ramon H. Myers ◽

Adrienne Ching

Keyword(s):

Income Distribution ◽

Land Tenure ◽

Political Institutions ◽

Agricultural Development ◽

Land Distribution ◽

Tenure System ◽

The Social ◽

Japanese Colonial ◽

Land Tenure System ◽

Consumption Saving

Studies of Asian agriculture have argued that land-tenure systems have often retarded agricultural development, in that unequal land distribution and widespread tenancy have given peasants little power to resist landlord efforts to squeeze and rack-rent them. Because landlords have been disinclined to devote their wealth and energies to improving the land, agriculture has stagnated and peasants have became poorer. A conspicuous weakness in this argument is that it begs the question whether a land-tenure system of more or less equal holdings best promotes agricultural development. The land-tenure system influences income distribution in agriculture, but it is impossible to say how a given income distribution influences landlord consumption, saving, and investment decisions unless more is known about the social and political institutions of a given rural society.

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Discourse on women and land tenure in Ghana: does a matrilineal land tenure system make a difference for women?

10.1079/9781789247664.0011 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 129-142

Author(s):

Nancy Kankam Kusi ◽

Frank Mintah ◽

Valentina Nyame ◽

Uchendu Eugene Chigbu ◽

Menare Royal Mabakeng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Tenure ◽

Social System ◽

Land Ownership ◽

Male Dominance ◽

Her Family ◽

Tenure System ◽

System P ◽

Land Tenure System ◽

Cultural Negotiations ◽

Female Power

Abstract This chapter highlights that matriarchy and matrilineal social orientations are not inherent guarantees of women's access to land but can reinforce male dominance over land ownership, control, and access to land. It notes that social structures and norms are subject to change and, in this instance, colonialization and modernization have acted as the two key influencers in reshaping Asante matriarchy. The researchers argue that the continuous interplay of cultural negotiations within the traditional matriarchal regime have caused a drastic transformation in Asante land tenure system which have fuelled unequal access to land. In effect, a postcolonial Asante woman is no longer guaranteed land tenure security from her family or community and more likely to face the harsh realities of landlessness. The chapter does not assume equal access to land hitherto but notes that the inequality gap has been further widened by the weakening of 'female power' in the matriarchal social system.

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When Tradition Meets Modernity in Land Registration: Evidence from Dagbon, Ghana

Land ◽

10.3390/land9110416 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 416

Author(s):

David Asante Edwin ◽

Evam Kofi Glover ◽

Edinam K. Glover

Keyword(s):

Land Tenure ◽

Research Question ◽

Land Ownership ◽

Registration System ◽

Land Registration ◽

Tenure System ◽

Title Registration ◽

Land Tenure System ◽

Customary Land ◽

And Control

Development practice over recent years in much of Africa prioritized formalization of land policies deemed to enhance better handling and use of land as an asset for social development. Following this trend, land reform policy in Ghana was based on a pluralistic legal system in which both the customary land tenure system and the statutory system of land ownership and control co-exist by law. The primary research question for this study was the following: What implications emerge when customary land tenure system and the statutory system of land ownership and control co-exist in law? The study discussed the prospects and challenges of land title registration and the meaning of the new organizing concept in land ownership and administration among the people of Dagbon in the northern region of Ghana. The principal aim of the study was to assess the challenges of the implementation of a modern land registration system over a deeply traditional one. A qualitative research methodology was used and included qualitative descriptive analysis. This descriptive-analytical study was carried out to investigate opinions on the implications of the merger and preferred options for redress of any systemic challenges. It employed Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) to supplement in-depth interviews. Interviews were conducted among 40 key participants within formal and informal institutions including officials from both the Land Commission and Town and Country Planning Departments. Purposeful sampling was employed, and an interview guide was developed and used for collecting the data. Data were analyzed using a thematic approach. The results showed that in this structural reform, the ‘allodial title’ holder was much more trusted for tenure security because of the traditional legitimacy of the King as the sole owner and controller of land. The title registration system therefore principally served the secondary purpose as additional security. The findings indicate that in the circumstance where the law was seen as pliable, the policy engendered blurred and confusing effects that deepened the sense of ambiguity and outcomes were sometimes contradictory. We argued that the crossroads presented challenges that were novel and engendered innovative thinking for more appropriate solutions. The study revealed that policy reforms must be tailor-made to the physical, social, cultural and economic settings.

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