University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2009 “It is a strange thing for us to see water being sold”: Local Perceptions of the Fijian Bottled Water Industry Jessica Dawn Ulrich The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Ulrich, Jessica Dawn, "“It is a strange thing for us to see water being sold”: Local Perceptions of the Fijian Bottled Water Industry" (2009). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 13. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/13 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ―IT IS A STRANGE THING FOR US TO SEE WATER BEING SOLD‖: LOCAL PERCEPTIONS OF THE FIJIAN BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY By JESSICA DAWN ULRICH B.A., The University of Montana, Dillon, MT, 2005 Thesis Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, Inequality and Social Justice The University of Montana Missoula, MT Summer 2009 Approved by: Perry Brown, Associate Provost for Graduate Education Graduate School Dr. Lyn Macgregor, Chairperson Sociology Department Dr. Celia Winkler Sociology Department Dr. Teresa Sobieszczyk Sociology Department Dr. Robin Saha Environmental Studies Department Ulrich, Jessica, Master of Arts, Summer 2009 Sociology ―It is a strange thing for us to see water being sold‖: Local Perceptions of the Fijian Bottled Water Industry Chairperson: Lyn Macgregor, Ph.D. Despite the availability of affordable, clean water from taps in our homes, increasing numbers of people are willing to pay for the convenience of portable water, and to consume bottled water imported from an exotic location, such as Fiji. Consequently, FIJI Water, an American-owned multinational corporation, now constitutes approximately 29 percent of Fiji‘s domestic exports. An important question that no one has asked to date is how do stakeholders in Fiji make sense of the rapidly growing bottled water industry? Examining how water is changing from a natural entitlement to a commodity throughout the world, and exploring how this is affecting stakeholders in Fiji in particular, will help in understanding what sort of impacts commodification of a natural resource on a worldwide scale has on a community level. Using data collected through interviews and observations in Fiji, this qualitative research project examines discourses that residents of Fijian communities in close proximity to the bottled water plant and representatives of the FIJI Water Company use to make sense of the global bottled water market and how these perceptions relate to larger questions about globalization, consumerism, inequality, and justice. But what happens if the demand for bottled water dries up? This thesis examines the dependency that Fiji is developing with the bottled water industry and analyzes the situation using an environmental justice framework. I argue that although the bottled water industry may be beneficial in the short-term for some Fijian stakeholders because of the jobs it provides and the donations the company makes to local communities, the environmental, economic, social, and cultural impacts of the industry may be detrimental to Fiji in the future. ii Acknowledgements First of all, I would like to thank all of the people who have supported and guided me throughout my entire research project. Importantly, I could not have done it without the guidance and patience from my committee chair, Lyn Macgregor. The countless hours she spent giving me important feedback on my writing and ideas was extremely helpful and will be useful in my future academic endeavors. Despite unexpected hurdles along the way and the distance between us, we were both able to plug along and keep working efficiently together. I would also like to thank my other committee members, Celia Winkler, Teresa Sobieszczyk, and Robin Saha. Input from all three helped me to think about my paper in critical and creative ways. Special thanks also goes to Gretchen McCaffrey from the writing center for helping me polish up my writing skills and giving me insightful outside feedback. I would also like to thank the host family with whom my mother and I stayed during our trip to Fiji, and Morgan Eichwald for introducing me to them. We truly enjoyed getting to know you, your family, neighbors, friends, and village. Staying in your home and sharing many meals and conversations with all of you was a pleasure. My research project may have never gotten off the ground if it weren‘t for the tireless help of Isikeli Naitura. I could not have done it without his generosity and guidance. Thanks also goes to the FIJI Water representatives who were extremely open with information and generous with your time. I appreciated your answering my many questions. I would also like to thank all of my interviewees for sharing their time and important perspectives with me. Finally, I would also like to thank my family, and especially my mom – who was my ―research assistant‖ during our time in Fiji. I could not have done it without her and I am thankful that we had the opportunity to share this experience together (hint: I may also need a research assistant for my dissertation). I would also like to thank my dad who accompanied me to my first sociology conference to present a portion of this paper in San Diego. I truly appreciated your support and enjoyed your company. Last but not least, thanks to all of my colleagues and friends for listening to me talk tirelessly about bottled water regardless of time, place, or interest. iii Table of Contents Abstract……………………………….………………………………………….………..ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents………………………...……………………………………………….iv Chapter One -- Introduction……………………………………………………………1 Growth of the Bottled Water Industry………………………………………….…3 Criticisms of the Bottled Water Industry………………………………………….5 Chapter Two – Case Background…………..…………………………………………..9 Development of the FIJI Water Company……………………..………………….9 The Colonial History of Fiji and Links to FIJI Water………...…………………14 Neocolonialism and FIJI Water…………………………...……………………..17 The Research Site…………………………..……………………………………19 Chapter Three - Literature Review....…………………………………………………25 Cultural Capital and the Marketing of Bottled Water……………………………25 Neoliberal Discourses on Water…………………………………………………29 Critiques of Neoliberal Discourses on Water……………………………………30 Indigenous Views of Water Resources…………………………..………………33 Chapter Four - Methodology…………………………………………………………..36 Site and Respondent Selection…………………………………………………...37 Getting In and Gaining Access………………………………………………......43 Getting Along in the Villages……………………………………………………47 Sampling…………………………………………………………………………49 In-Depth Interviews……………………………………………………………...53 Participant Observation…………………………………………………………..56 Secondary Data…………………………………………………………………..58 Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………….58 Researcher Credibility…………………………………………………………...60 Chapter Five – Perceived Economic Impacts…………………………………………63 Positive Economic Impacts………………………………………………………64 Growth in Higher Paying Jobs…………………………………………...65 Donations and Investments by FIJI Water……………………………….70 Donations to School Programs…………………………………...73 Donations to Sports Programs…………………………………...79 Donations to Water Programs……………………………………81 Donations to Miscellaneous Community Projects…………….....84 Donations to Health Projects…………………………………….86 iv Indirect Business Growth………………………………………………...87 Contract Work for FIJI Water……………………………………88 Increased Revenue for Local Businesses………………………...89 Advertisement for Fiji by FIJI Water…………………………….90 Negative Economic Impacts……………………………………………………..91 Taxation of FIJI Water…………………………………………………...94 Negative Perceptions of Community Donations from FIJI Water……….98 Donations Outside the Five Villages………………………….....99 Donations Directly to Local Government………………………100 Increased Donations for Existing Programs………….………...101 Negative Perceptions of Giving Back by FIJI Water Employees………103 Chapter Six – Perceived Social and Cultural Impacts……………………………...108 Water as a Commodity, Not a Natural Entitlement…………………………….108 Growth in Fijian-Owned Bottled Water Companies…………………...109 Growth in Consumption of Bottled Water in Fiji………………………113 Marketing the High Quality of Fijian Water……………………………114 Changes in the Vanua, Increasing Stratification and Jealousy…………………120 Work Ethic Differences……………………………..………………………….126 Chapter Seven – Perceived Environmental Impacts………………………………..130 Positive Environmental Impacts………………………………………………..130 Negative Environmental Impacts……………………………………………….136 Chapter Eight – Fiji’s Growing Dependence on the Bottled Water Industry…….143 Modernization Theory and the FIJI Water Company………………………......145 Dependency Theory and the FIJI Water Company……………………………..152 Chapter Nine - Environmental Justice Analysis…………………………………….159 FIJI Green Program……………………………………………………………..159 A Critique of FIJI Water‘s Green Initiatives…………………………………...164 Procedural Justice and the FIJI Water Company……………………………….166 Distributive Justice and the FIJI Water Company……………………………...175 Solutions……………………………………………………………………......179