Exploring Sport and Intergroup Relations in Fiji: Guidance for Researchers Undertaking Short-Term Ethnography

Abstract

There is a key tension associated with ethnographic explorations into the lives of people in the Global South – ‘outsider’ researchers from the Global North who lack experience of the environments they are seeking to understand. A considered response, therefore, is for scholars to seek physical immersion in a field—to live among those they are trying to understand. Such ethnographic inquiries are optimal when researchers have the capacity to engage over long periods of time. However, in some circumstances, this may not feasible. Thus, questions arise about the veracity of field work investigations that are not only temporally brief but undertaken by scholars who lack local experience. This paper reflects on the experiences of a researcher who was faced with those challenges. It provides guidance as to how scholars might prepare for short-term ethnography (STE) in field work, along with the limitations and constraints of such an approach. The research centered on a sport for development and peace study into intergroup relations and ethnic separatism in Fijian sport.

Doing Ethnographic Research in the Fiji Islands: Research Method and Research Ethics Issues

“…Indian masculinity emphasizes scholarly achievements and success in the business world (Prasad, 2005, pp. 110–111; Sugden, 2017, p. 119), so arguably this was a gendered performance of Fiji Indian masculinity on display to those driving past. Bounty is known as a place for the (White) European crowd, and its prices are expensive.…”

“…First, we should be aware about how our public consumption can and may be seen by others and affect others in the Global South, and keep consumption a bit more hidden and inconspicuous. The story also reveals why a variety of domestic social equilibriums exist in Fiji, beyond the control of any one person: For example, the Fiji Indians control the SME sector, whereas the Indigenous people control the police and military (regarding the military, see Teaiwa, 2005); Fiji Indians control soccer (James & Nadan, 2021; Sugden, 2017, p. 121), whereas Indigenous Fijians control rugby; and Fiji Indians control mosque and temple, whereas Indigenous Fijians, by and large, control the churches. Each community is reasonably happy with its own sphere of endeavor and it puts a limit on envy and resentment.…”

“…The superstructure of the towns is organized around SME-life, and a high value is placed on success in education and in business (Prasad, 2005, pp. 110–111; Sugden, 2017, p. 119). This is the key ingredient in the Fiji Indian masculinity stakes.…”

International High-Performance Sport Camps and the Development of Emplaced Physical Capital Among Pasifika Athletes

“…This type of cycle is also another rhythmic and sensory process that may offer insights into how emplaced physical capital can be built through disruption and constraint. The affordances of in-country and immersive research, similar to the ethnographic work done by Sugden et al (2019), would also strengthen knowledge of the long-term impact and influence of international training camps on Pasifika athletes and the benefits (or pitfalls) accrued by their communities and wider-sport groups. The post-colonial approaches proposed by Sugden et al (2019) for research and engagement with locals could be extended to include the use of new materialist data collections methods, such as digital diaries (using drawings or photos) or performance ethnographies (Markula, 2019) to continue to explore the affects and capacities produced through interactions between bodies and things.…”

Post-retirement blues in the shadow of Joe Tubuna: the post-retirement struggles of Fiji’s indigenous soccer elite

“…These two communities live, play, and socialize largely in separate blocs, with their own main interests, aspirations, and pre-occupations. There is a balance-ofpower equilibrium, which works fairly well, on the whole, whereby Indo-Fijians support soccer and attend mosque and temple whereas the indigenous people support the rugby codes and attend church (James and Nadan 2020;Kanemasu and Molnar 2014;Molnar and Kanemasu, 2014;Sugden et al 2019). Indigenous Fijians dominate the military and the police (Teaiwa 2005), while Indo-Fijians control the business-world (especially the Small and Medium Enterprises or SME sector), the left-wing trade-unions, academia, and the press.…”