Third World Studies: Theorizing Liberation

by Gary Y. Okihiro

Overview

In this revised and expanded second edition of Third World Studies, Gary Y. Okihiro considers the methods and theories that might constitute the formation of Third World studies. Proposed in 1968 at San Francisco State College by the Third World Liberation Front but replaced by faculty and administrators with ethnic studies, Third World studies was over before it began. As opposed to ethnic studies, which Okihiro critiques for its liberalism and US-centrism, Third World studies begins with the colonized world and the anti-imperial, anticolonial, and antiracist projects located therein as described by W. E. B. Du Bois in 1900. Third World studies analyzes the locations and articulations of power around the axes of race, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, class, and nation. In this new edition, Okihiro emphasizes the work of Third World intellectuals such as M. N. Roy, José Carlos Mariátegui, and Oliver Cromwell Cox; foregrounds the importance of Bandung and the Tricontinental; and adds discussions of eugenics, feminist epistemologies, and religion. With this work, Okihiro establishes Third World studies as a theoretical formation and a liberatory practice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781478059653
Publisher:	Duke University Press
Publication date:	07/19/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Gary Y. Okihiro (1945-2024) was Visiting Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration at Yale University and the author of many books, including The Boundless Sea: Self and History and American History Unbound: Asians and Pacific Islanders.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments  ix
Introduction  1
1. Subjects  19
2. Nationalism  45
3. Imperialism  69
4. World-System  91
5. Education  113
6. Subjectification  131
7. Racial Formation  149
8. Social Formation  171
9. A luta continua  203
Notes  241
Bibliography  271
Index  299

What People are Saying About This

f American Studies in a Moment of Danger - George Lipsitz

"Displaying his customary erudition and insight, Gary Y. Okihiro rethinks the meaning of ethnic studies, highlighting the existence of a rich but often neglected tradition of anti-subordination scholarship capable of delineating and critiquing how the histories of imperialism and capitalism have shaped the fatal couplings of social identities and power. A generative and thought provoking-work by a sophisticated and advanced thinker, Third World Studies will challenge many ethnic studies scholars and impact how ethnic studies will proceed to think of itself."

The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South - Vijay Prashad

"A bracing account of the phantom Third World studies, the field that never was. Gary Y. Okihiro has had his feet planted firmly in the fields of ethnic studies and global studies, two fields that would have been part of Third World studies, making him well-positioned to write this book."

f American Studies in a Moment of Danger - George Lipsitz

"Displaying his customary erudition and insight, Gary Y. Okihiro rethinks the meaning of ethnic studies, highlighting the existence of a rich but often neglected tradition of anti-subordination scholarship capable of delineating and critiquing how the histories of imperialism and capitalism have shaped the fatal couplings of social identities and power. A generative and thought provoking-work by a sophisticated and advanced thinker, Third World Studies will challenge many ethnic studies scholars and impact how ethnic studies will proceed to think of itself."

George Lipsitzn Studies in a Moment of Danger

"Displaying his customary erudition and insight, Gary Y. Okihiro rethinks the meaning of ethnic studies, highlighting the existence of a rich but often neglected tradition of anti-subordination scholarship capable of delineating and critiquing how the histories of imperialism and capitalism have shaped the fatal couplings of social identities and power. A generative and thought provoking-work by a sophisticated and advanced thinker, Third World Studies will challenge many ethnic studies scholars and impact how ethnic studies will proceed to think of itself."

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the First Edition
“Okihiro makes an exciting and innovative contribution to the scholarship on Third World studies. . . . [This book] will make excellent reading for anyone interested in the interplay between politics and framing of subjectivities and would be particularly useful for undergraduate and graduate courses on postcolonial studies, critical pedagogy, and international politics.

Postcolonial Studies - Ananya Sharma

Gary Y. Okihiro’s Third World Studies remains an extraordinarily important contribution. It is the single most effective critique of racial capitalism’s entanglement with multicultural liberalism, remarkably showing readers how Third World studies offers a distinct challenge and radically different way of viewing human history and society. This book is indispensable.

Paradoxes of Nostalgia: Cold War Triumphalism and Global Disorder since 1989 - Penny M. Von Eschen

Praise for the First Edition
“A bracing account of the phantom Third World studies, the field that never was. Gary Y. Okihiro has had his feet planted firmly in the fields of ethnic studies and global studies, two fields that would have been part of Third World studies, making him well positioned to write this book.

The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South - Vijay Prashad

"This second edition summarizes Okihiro's 'intellectual labors.' It is also a tribute to a first-generation ethnic studies scholar (notwithstanding his misgiving about labeling the field thus) who helped found, define, and redefine the field to break out of parochial identity politics and focus on relationships of power, domination, and liberation. Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; professionals."

Choice - E. Hu-DeHart

"Okihiro makes an exciting and innovative contribution to the scholarship on Third World studies by analysing a range of topics. It will make an excellent reading for anyone interested in the interplay between politics and framing of subjectivities and would be particularly useful for undergraduate and graduate courses on postcolonial studies, critical pedagogy and international politics."--Ananya Sharma "Postcolonial Studies" (1/1/2021 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

"Displaying his customary erudition and insight, Gary Y. Okihiro rethinks the meaning of ethnic studies, highlighting the existence of a rich but often neglected tradition of anti-subordination scholarship capable of delineating and critiquing how the histories of imperialism and capitalism have shaped the fatal couplings of social identities and power. A generative and thought provoking-work by a sophisticated and advanced thinker, Third World Studies will challenge many ethnic studies scholars and impact how ethnic studies will proceed to think of itself."

f American Studies in a Moment of Danger - George Lipsitz