Rate My Professor Robert Norton

Dr. Robert Norton serves as Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, at Macquarie University in Sydney. He joined the university in 1969 as one of the foundation members of the Anthropology Department and has held positions including Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Comparative Sociology within the School of Behavioural Sciences. Norton obtained his PhD from the University of Sydney with a thesis entitled "Politics, Race and Society in Fiji." His academic interests center on ethnicity and politics in Fiji, a focus he has pursued since 1966 through extensive field studies, including a period of teaching at the University of the South Pacific from 1993 to 1998.

Norton's scholarly output includes the influential book Race and Politics in Fiji (1990, second edition, University of Queensland Press), described as the most comprehensive sociological study of Fiji's development as a national society. It examines the dynamics of conflict and cooperation from colonial rule to the 1987 military coup, highlighting factors constraining racial conflict and contrasts with Sri Lanka's politics. Other notable publications encompass "Accommodating Indigenous Privilege: Britain's Dilemma in Decolonising Fiji," "'A Pre-eminent Right to Political Rule': Indigenous Fijian Power and Multi-ethnic Nation Building" (2012), "The Changing Role of the Great Council of Chiefs" (2009), "Seldom a Transition with Such Aplomb: From Confrontation to Conciliation on Fiji’s Path to Independence" (2004), "India's Part in the Politics of Fiji's Decolonization" (2017), "Understanding Fiji's Political Paradox," and reviews such as "Law and Empire in the Pacific: Fiji and Hawaii" and "The Method of Hope: Anthropology, Philosophy, and Fijian Knowledge." His work has contributed significantly to understanding political processes, ethnic relations, and decolonization in the Pacific region.