The structure of Fijian society is such that there is little room for independence and personal autonomy. There is pressure placed on individuals to conform to the social structure and perform their role in the larger society by suppressing personal desires of individuality and autonomy. However, there are ways in which individuals have been able to gain autonomy and personal fulfillment within this highly structured society. The first chapter of my ethnography discusses the social structure of Naivuvuni village. It focuses on the ways that people are conceptually organized within the framework of the village and how this social structure is different from the social organization of the village.
Social organization refers to how people are actually arranged within the village.
For example, the social structure of the village dictates that adult married brothers and sisters should avoid each other, as a sign of respect. According to the structure of the society, men and women as brothers and sisters have separate social positions and roles. In order to properly fulfill these roles, they need to avoid each other. However, this does not always happen. On several occasions I witnessed brothers and sisters spending time together in comfortable and relaxed situations.