Brij V. Lal, OF, BA (USP), MA (UBC), PhD (ANU), FAHA
Professor, Division of Pacific and Asian History and The Pacific Centre

Email: brij.lal@anu.edu.au

Biographical Statement

I have been working on a book of essays looking at the role of place in Pacific Islands scholarship as well as a collection marking the 125th anniversary of arrival of Indians in Fiji. I am also preparing for publication a documentary history of British decolonisation of Fiji and writing a biography of the Fiji statesman Jai Ram Reddy. I also maintain an active interest in creative writing and the relationship between history and fiction.

Research Interests

Contemporary Pacific Islands history; Fiji; comparative constitutionalism; plantation systems and labour history; Asian diaspora.

Key Publications

• Girmitiyas: The Origins of the Fiji Indians (Canberra: The Journal of Pacific History, 1983)
• Power and Prejudice: The Making of the Fiji Crisis (Wellington: New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, 1988).
• Broken Waves: A history of the Fiji Islands in the 20th century (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992).
• Pacific Islands History: Journeys and Transformations (ed) (Canberra: JPH Monograph, 1992)
• A Vision for Change: AD Patel and the Politics of Fiji (Canberra: Asia Pacific Press, 1997).
• Chalo Jahaji: On a journey of indenture through Fiji (Suva: Fiji Museum, 2000).
• Pacific Islands: An Encyclopedia (ed). (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2000).
• Mr Tulsi's Store: A Fijian Journey (Canberra: Pandanus Books, 2001).
• Pacific Places, Pacific Histories (ed) (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2004)

Career Highlights

Member of the Fiji Constitution Review Commission whose report forms the basis of Fiji's constitution. Founding Editor of 'The Contemporary Pacific: A Journal of Island Affairs,' (Honolulu) and of 'Conversations,' (Canberra). Editor, 'The Journal of Pacific History.' Chairman, Pacific Manuscript Bureau. Founding Director of The Centre for the Contemporary Pacific, ANU. Convenor, Division of Pacific and Asian History and former Chair of Faculty, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies. Teaching experience (World and Pacific History) at the universities of the South Pacific, Hawaii at Manoa and Papua NewGuinea before joining ANU in 1990.