Jerry wrote:
> Thus, fighting racism (and sexism) are essential moments in the
> struggle for working-class unity, imo.
I fully agree.
> No doubt, in many instances the route to working-class unity is more
> complex. For instance, what happens when two national minorities within
> an independent nation and former colony (what I would call a neo-colony)
> both raise demands that appear to be in conflict with each other? For
> instance, take the case of Fiji. Indian workers were imported into
> Fiji by the British under colonialism as a way of overcoming a labor
> power shortage. Following colonialism, there were various inequalities
> and
> conflicts between the descendents of Indian immigrants and those of
> Fijian descent - which, after all, had a quite distinct culture and
> history.
> More importantly, these groups have different legal and de factor
> rights (e.g. the ability to get government jobs; the legal right to own
> land) and wealth and income ownership). Thus, Indians in Fiji tend to
> have higher incomes/capita but less legal rights. By no means is this a
> unique story. In some ways, it's similar to the modern history of Rwanda.
> WHat type of strategy would you favor for situations like this?
In principle, socialists should be in favor of legal equality. However, from
your description it sounds like there might be some kind of trade-off going
on between the two communities in Fiji. I would have to look closely at the
situation before attempting anything even resembling a strategy. I know
nothing about Fiji apart from what you just said.
But what does this have to do with our previous discussion on this thread?
Paula
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Received on Wed Feb 24 19:40:09 2010
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