Hermann Mückler

Born in Vienna of Austrian-Moravian ancestry, Hermann Mückler studied anthropology and political science at the University of Vienna. He received a PhD in 1997 with a thesis on „Taukei und Vulagi; Reasons for political instability in Fiji. Culture change, ethnic conflicts and the importance of the chiefly system; the Fijian perspective“ (original in German). His habilitation took place in 2001 with a thesis „Finis Tui Viti? Transformation and decay of traditional structure of power in Fiji as a consequence of internal and outside dynamics“ (original in German). Two books in German language published in 1998 and 2001 about political developments in Fiji attracted wide attention and led him to be estimated as one of the leading experts about Fiji and the surrounding regions in Europe. Since 1987 extended travel and field work in the Asia-Pacific region. In 1994 starting as University Assistant, he became University Professor in 2001. From 2004 to 2008 he was Vicedean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Vienna. In 1996 he founded the Austrian-South Pacific Society (Österreichisch-Suedpazifische Gesellschaft, OSPG), the one and only scientific institution dealing with the Pacific islands in Austria, and in 2002, together with Prof. Erich Lehner from the Univ. of Technology, Vienna, the Institute for Comparative Research in Architecture (ICRA). Hermann Mückler is Chief-Editor of the book series „Novara - Contributions to Research on the Pacific“ and project coordinator of „Escape to the South Seas? Austrian emigration to New Zealand and the Pacific Islands“.

Hermann N. Mückler (Hermann Mueckler, born 8 March 1964 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian anthropologist and political scientist, specialized on the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on Oceania (Pacific Islands), especially Fiji, Melanesia, and Polynesia.