Fiji, Women, Soldiers: Oral Histories and Feminist Analysis

Fiji has the largest military per capita in the Pacific Islands region. Over 2,000 Fiji citizens currently serve in the British Army, and global private security firms increasingly recruit labour from Fiji. This project investigates this accelerated process of militarization from the point of view of indigenous Fijian women in armed forces. There are strong traditions in Fiji around indigenous men as warriors, but indigenous women entering armed forces have few historical role models. A landmark survey of the literature on Fijian warfare suggested that women were more likely to appear in Fiji's historical record as “cheerleaders”, sentries, cooks, and victims of war than as warriors (1). Women were first admitted into Fiji's modern armed forces in 1988. The next intakes of women were in 1998-1999, and 2006. When the British Army began recruiting in Fiji in 1999-2000, women were among the recruits. So why are indigenous Fijian women joining the military and what are they fighting for? This paper seeks to answer these questions by drawing from a collection of oral histories of enlisted indigenous Fijian women and engaging in a feminist analysis of the issues that emerge.