Policing and Religion in Tuvalu: Perspectives on Navigating Tensions Between Multiple Security Actors

Abstract

Although religious institutions are an important agent of non-state policing, especially in the Global South, there is a limited understanding of the relationship between religion and policing. The Pacific presents an ideal context in which to examine the relationship between religious and policing institutions in Christian majority postcolonial societies. Moreover, state and religious institutions in the Pacific Island States are currently being subjected to powerful processes, including economic liberalization, globalization, and localization/indigenization, producing both opportunities but also contestations and conflicts. Using interviews with police officers, religious leaders, and community leaders, this article examines how police officers negotiate the tensions between (secular) state law, indigenous structures of authority, and religious authorities in Tuvalu.

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“…In particular, these kinds of issues have been highlighted when aiming to address domestic and family violence (Bull et al, 2019). Indeed, as discussed in research in Tuvalu about the role of religious leaders in policing (Amin et al, 2022), the inclusion of religious sources of authority in the solutions may be welcomed both by police officers and by community members, and make for more locally appropriate interventions, with the caveat that working together means that various types of leaders must engage collectively in discussions about policing parameters and agree on boundaries and roles (Amin et al, 2022). Hybridity is not new in Pacific contexts involving international peacebuilding (Wallis, 2012), political reconciliation (Jeffery, 2016), and collaborative approaches to policing that co-produce safety and security (Watson & Dinnen, 2020).…”