Third World Studies: Theorizing Liberation

by Gary Y. Okihiro

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.

Genres: Race

317 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 19, 2024

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Gary Okihiro's book Third World Studies: Theorizing Liberation, I wish I had read it as a student -- but it's not been out too long, so I can't be too sad about that. I wanted to give it to everyone I know though, just because of the brilliant ways it pulled together so much of what I've been struggling with while also recalibrating my perspective on world history and important events the same way that Vijay Prahad's work helps me do. I would love to teach it, perhaps one day I will have the chance. A very different kind of view of a global world and struggle from Wallerstein's, though it finds his work useful and builds on it in interesting ways. But this history of the Third World Liberation Front, the struggle to develop Third World Studies and the theory thereby generated is fantastic, above all how it can serve as a foundation for how we theorise and fight for liberation today.

I take notes on things and blog them in a fairly boring fashion, but if you want more you can find it here

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, so it’s basically intersectionality? Well why didn’t ya say so!

[Alyssa Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

adding my school books now CUZ I DESERVE IT 😹😹😹 guys this book, as far as theory books go, was pretty good and really resonated with me. The history he talks about reminded me of Zinn’s A People’s History. was a great primer for This Current Moment and what we should do going forward.

[Evy Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informational, comprehensive, interesting.
Very difficult to read. The rhetoric was very confusing at times - sometimes it was unclear whether the author was expressing an opinion that he himself held, or if he was expressing someone else's opinion in order to critique it later. Very dry in that way.
I especially appreciated the chapter about education. It provided some insights concerning the connection between white supremacy and education that were really interesting to consider and think about.

[Bella stardust]

3.5-4⭐️
provided a lot of context but like did not define what makes third world studies in practice. i know academia (academia on the left) purposefully doesn’t define things so we can interpret on our own and sometimes we genuinely don’t know.
I really appreciated the recognition of how much space “Chicago Ethnic Studies”, which is the bastardized version of Third World Studies in the mainstream.

[Karis · Rating 5 out of 5]

great primer that i'll definitely end up assigning when i start teaching !! also v looking forward to the new edition coming out this year