Australian Race Relations

Focusing on ideas of race and the history of race relations in Australia, this text covers the dispossession of the Aborigines, relations with European and other immigrants to 1890, the white Australia policy and its impact on Aborigines and immigrants to 1990, and the impact of World War II. Australian Race Relations has been a subject of continuing controversy, whether focused on Aboriginal issues such as the High Court's Mabo decision, or the latest wave of immigrants. This book provides the historical context necessary for an understanding of contemporary issues in a society coming to terms with native title and multiculturalism.Based on over twenty years of research, Australian Race Relations is the first history of the subject that gives detailed consideration to both nineteenth and twentieth century developments. The book is particularly concerned with the broad patterns of race relations. It deals with the nature of racial consciousness, the dispossession of Aboriginal people, the role of racial minorities in the workforce, the eras of White Australia and assimilation, and contemporary society. Australian Race Relations will appeal to students of Australian history and society, and to everyone interested in the shape of modern Australia.