Land Law Literacy and Its Impacts on iTaukei Land Governance and Political Affiliation
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Abstract
Empirical research on land tenure in Fiji has rarely paid attention to the fact that the iTaukei knowledge of their land rights is not only a sine qua non (prerequisite) in their ability to enforce these rights but will also affect their attitude towards land reforms, political party affiliation, ethnic relations, investment, governance, and management. Issues relating to land ownership, in the main, reflect the socio-political configuration of iTaukei society, including their status as the first people in a heterogeneous society fashioned during the colonial period. This article is based on a PhD dissertation. It focuses on native land literacy (or lack of it) and its implications on customary land governance and political affiliations. Apart from the literature on customary land tenure in Fiji, this study uses mixed-methods research by engaging the hermeneutic paradigms and operationalizing a bundle of predominantly qualitative methods tailored specifically to suit the iTaukei context in the village of Narewa in Nadi. The findings of this empirical study will fill a significant void in the literature and provide evidence of the impact of land law literacy on individual and village land governance and on resources that are owned collectively. It will also contribute to discussions about how land insecurity influences political party choices among iTaukei affiliations.