European colonisation has marginalised the `first peoples' in industrialised countries such as Australia and Canada. In remote regions, still the homes of large Aboriginal, Indian and Inuit populations, this legacy remains strong. Modernisation - the `boom and bust' model of state and private development - and the partial and biased assistance provided by the state have eroded many communities through their disregard for socio-economic structures and the beliefs which underpin them. Third World in the First explores the past, present and future of these peoples, their treatment by the `West' and the alternative strategies of development which might be available to them.

The life stories included here present the journeys of over 30 indigenous researchers from six continents and many disciplines, including the challenges and oppression they have faced, their strategies for overcoming them, and how their work has produced more meaningful research and a more just society.