The Fate of Third Worldism in the Middle East

‘What has become of the ideology of Third Worldism, which once held the promise of leading oppressed peoples of the world toward liberation and universal emancipation? In this insightful book, well-informed contributors examine the decline of one of the most influential revolutionary ideologies globally, the implications of which for the practice of radical politics in today’s Middle East cannot be underestimated.’

– Asef Bayat, Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

‘… connects micro-histories of personal, social, and political-ideological change in the Iranian and Palestinian movements and in their transnational entanglements to the macro-history of Third Worldism. The book offers a fresh understanding of how revolutionary groups and milieus experienced and negotiated the watershed moment before the new order of the 1980s.’

– Dina Matar, Professor and Chair of the Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS

‘This collection of absorbing essays brings together some of the most exciting new research about the regional expansiveness, national entanglements, triumphs, and failures of Third Worldism in the Middle East. It is a necessary and compelling volume that illuminates histories of mobilisation in the region and opens new avenues of research.’

– Laleh Khalili, Al-Qasimi Professor of Gulf Studies, University of Exeter, and author of Heroes and Martyrs of Palestine

Rasmus C. Elling is Associate Professor in the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen.

Sune Haugbolle is Professor of Global Studies at Roskilde University.