The effects of migration on the establishment of networks: caste disintegration and reformation among the Indians of Fiji
Grieco, E.M.
International Migration Review 32(3): 704-736
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0197-9183 PMID: 12293998 Document Number: 276148
This study examined the effects of type of migration on reformation of caste groups among the Indians of Fiji during 1880-1930. The Indians of Fiji had 5 distinct subcommunities and 3 types of migration context. Data were obtained from interviews among 50 people from suburban, rural, and urban areas of Vitu Levu island during 1989-90; participant observations during several short-term visits; and historic, ethnographic archival research. This article begins with a review of the caste system and migration context, followed by theorizing. It then describes the histories of the Fiji Indian groups with specific examples of how migrant's reasons prevented or enabled them to establish subcaste groups in Fiji. The focus is on caste-free descendants of indentured workers that arrived in Fiji during 1879-1916, and caste-based descendants of non-labor migrants from Gujarat during 1900-30. It is concluded that the migration histories of indentured workers were very different from the free Gujarati immigrant experiences. The Gujarati community was able to form and maintain family and caste-based migration chains within their migration streams in Fiji. Indentured workers were prevented from reformation of caste groups overseas. The ability to establish and maintain migration chains determines the level of caste-related behavior overseas. The Punjabi community on Fiji was different from the previous 2 subcommunities because of their recruitment as labor from different districts and social groups, which resulted in greater assimilation in the host society. Migration context directly affects the level of cultural reformation in the host society.