In this fascinating study of the Dhan-Gadi Aboriginal people of New South Wales, Australia, the author combines the skills of a social historian with the detailed observation of a social anthropologist. In so doing he brings alive the contours of crude racism, as well as the more subtle expressions of paternalism, bureaucratic social control and educational and economic marginalization.

The 1970s saw the Aboriginal people of Australia struggle for recognition of their postcolonial rights. Rural communities, where large Aboriginal populations lived, were provoked as a consequence of social fragmentation, unparalleled unemployment, and other major economic and political changes. The ensuing riots, protests, and law-and-order campaigns in New South Wales captured the tense relations that existed between indigenous people, the police, and the criminal justice system. In Protests, Land Rights, and Riots, Barry Morris shows how neoliberal policies in Australia targeted those who were least integrated socially and culturally, and who enjoyed fewer legitimate economic opportunities. Amidst intense political debate, struggle, and conflict, new forces were unleashed as a post-settler colonial state grappled with its past. Morris provides a social analysis of the ensuing effects of neoliberal policy and the way indigenous rights were subsequently undermined by this emerging new political orthodoxy in the 1990s.

The professionalization of anthropology through practical engagement is a major force underpinning the reformulations of the nature of the anthropological project. It is therefore imperative that anthropologists critically explore the conditions of their practices, to determine the difficulties and limitations to their ethical practice. These essays examine the application of expert knowledge in fields where there is the expectation of considerable cultural, social, and political consequence for human populations as a result of state, corporate, or non-governmental re-organization.

This series aims to reflect the richness and vitality of contemporary work in this discipline. The volumes included, explore not only current developments within social and cultural anthropology, but also the interfaces between these areas and such fields as biological anthropology and archaeology. They challenge established conventions and represent a significant advance in a range of areas of anthropological enquiry which should be of interest to an international readership.

Peter Barker recounts the story of sailing solo across the Indian Ocean from Australia to South Africa. At the age of 53, put his career into the wardrobe along with his pinstriped suits and did what he always wanted to do - sail around the world on his own. In 2007, he discovered the challenge and vulnerability of solo sailing; knocking himself unconscious; having his boat knocked down twice in a storm; escaping disaster after almost being blown on to a reef and, at all times, testing his nerve to the limit. Peter savoured weeks of being alone in a big, blue sea. He lived a rigorous routine 24 hours a day, day after day. He encountered strong winds and big seas but still found humour in the simple challenges of cooking and eating. He sailed from Sydney to the Torres Strait where he was reunited with the man who taught him to understand the sea. Across the Indian Ocean he discovered new lands and people - Cocos (Keeling) Islands, small pieces of paradise, and Rodrigues Island, Mauritius and Reunion Island. His last challenge was sailing down and around the notorious South African coast. This is a charming and exciting account of a man living his dream. More details: www.barkeraustralia.com