The social consequences of indenture system and aftermath in Fiji: an accountability study

Abstract

This study examines the social consequences of the calculative practices used to control the indentured labour and its aftermath in Fiji. Although the indenture system in Fiji was officially abolished in 1917 and the indentured labourers became 'free settlers', they and their descendants continued to toil on sugar cane farms in much the same way as under the initial indenture system, just as slavery continued in different forms after slavery was officially abolished in many parts of the world. To ensure that the descendants of indentured labourers remained unskilled and continued to work on the cane farms the colonial government had a policy of not educating the children of indentured labourers. However, the determination of the visionary descendants of indentured labourers to engage in self-help education rising from humble beginnings to provide primary, secondary and tertiary education became the most powerful liberator of all.