Eric Hirsch is a Reader in Anthropology at Brunel University London, UK. He has a long-standing interest in the ethnography and history of Papua New Guinea.

Will Rollason is a Senior Lecturer in Anthropology at Brunel University London, UK. His research to date has focused on Papua New Guinea and Rwanda.

1. Introduction: the challenge of Melanesia PART ONE: HISTORICAL CONTEXT 2. The archaeology of Melanesia 3. Melanesia: a region and a history 4. Missionaries in the Melanesian World PART TWO: GEOPOLITICAL, LINGUISTIC AND REGIONAL OVERVIEWS 5. Geo-Political Overview of Melanesia 6. Melanesia as a zone of language diversity 7. Regional Overview: From Diversity to Multiple Singularities PART THREE: ECONOMY AND LIVELIHOOD 8. Subsistence food production in Melanesia 9. Class, Labour, and Consumption in Urban Melanesia 10. Money Schemes in Contemporary Melanesia 11. Cash Crops and Markets 12. Searching for Melanesian Urbanity PART FOUR: GOVERNMENT, POLITICS AND PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS 13. Sovereignty, Civil Conflict and Ethnicity 14. Local Government and Politics: Forms and Aspects of Authority 15. Security Governance in Melanesia - Police, Prisons and Crime 16. Gender Relations and Human Rights in Melanesia 17. Health, Institutions and Governance in Melanesia 18. Owning the Law in Melanesia PART FIVE: RELIGION, CHURCH, RITUAL AND EXCHANGE PRACTICES 19. 'Witchcraft' and 'Sorcery' in Melanesia 20. Charismatic Churches, Revivalism and New Religious Movements 21. Cargo Cult Post Mortem 22. Big men, ceremonial exchange and lifecycle events 23. Interpreting initiation in Melanesia: Past and present PART SIX: ART, MATERIAL CULTURE AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 24. Museums and Cultural Centres in Melanesia: a series of experiments 25. Creation and Destruction in Melanesian Material Culture 26. Contemporary Art in Melanesia. From Grass Roots to National Identity? 27. Melanesian worlds of music and dance 28. The Melanesian World of Paradise Tourism: Reflections on time, travel and cultural performance PART SEVEN: DEVELOPMENT AND RESOURCES 29. Places and Paths in Melanesian Landscapes 30. Extractive Industries in Melanesia 31. Climate Change in the Islands and the Highlands: Melanesian Manifestations, Experiences and Actions 32. Western conservation in Melanesia: Biodiversity conservation for whom, by whom, and according to whom? 33. New Media, New Melanesia? Afterword