The thesis analyses inter-group conflict in Fiji within the framework of inter-group
theory, popularised by Gordon Allport, who argued that inter-group conflict arises out of
inter-group prejudice, which is historically constructed and sustained by dominant
groups. Furthermore, Allport hypothesised that there are three attributes of violence:
structural and institutional violence in the form of discrimination, organised violence and
extropunitive violence in the form of in-group solidarity. Using history as a method, I
analyse the history of inter-group conflict in Fiji from 1960 to 2006. I argue that intergroup
conflict in Fiji led to the institutionalisation of discrimination against Indo-Fijians
in 1987 and this escalated into organised violence in 2000. Inter-group tensions peaked in
Fiji during the 2006 general elections as ethnic groups rallied behind their own
communal constituencies as a show of in-group solidarity and produced an electoral
outcome that made multiparty governance stipulated by the multiracial 1997 Constitution
impossible. Using Allport’s recommendations on mitigating inter-group conflict in
divided communities, the thesis proposes a three-pronged approach to inter-group
conciliation in Fiji, based on implementing national identity, truth and reconciliation and
legislative reforms.