Arab Marxism and National Liberation: Selected Writings of Mahdi Amel

Historical Materialism #223

by Mahdi Amel

Mahdi Amel (1936–87) was a prominent Arab Marxist thinker and Lebanese Communist Party member. This collection brings for the first time to an English audience lengthy excerpts from six major works by Amel. These include the two founding texts on colonialism and underdevelopment in which Amel began to grapple with the question of dependency, his treatise on sectarianism and the state, his critique of Edward Said’s analysis of Marx, his exposure of emerging Islamised bourgeois trends of thought as part of a broader critique of everyday thought, and his reflection on cultural heritage as perceived by Arab bourgeoisie.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics, History, Lebanon, Islam, Philosophy

148 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2021

Reviews

[Z · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the roasting Edward Said for not understanding Marx. Wish more on the marxist analysis of sectarianism was translated into English. I'm into the idea of the colonial mode of production as distinct from the western capitalist mode of production. Wish i could force the class first people to read it i.e. the slimy white leftists who are like 'oh israelis and palestinians should unite against the ruling class, palestinian land owners are bourgeois' (wish i was making this up but sadly i have truly read an article that said that.). It explains clearly in materialist terms that anti imperialist national liberation is the key form of class struggle in colonised countries. Changed my way of viewing class struggle in the middle east. My only complaint is I wish Amel followed every step of his argument more slowly, with more evidence, and elaborating each logical conjuncture. Maybe I've just been spoiled by reading capital tho

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short collection of Amel’s writings make it very clear that he’s a first rate Marxist theorist who deserves further translation into English, as this contribution to the theorization around development/under-development and decolonization merits much greater renown. Occasionally some of the essays seem repetitive, but it’s perhaps just his style of clarifying his reasoning, which always proves sound.

[Muhammed Nijim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great analysis of the economic/political/social conditions in the so-called post-colonial phase or more correctly the neo-colonial period in the Middle East. Amel, who was a well-known Lebanese Marxist, develop his own theory of underdevelopment and provides insights on what we should do to exit our current conundrum. If you have read Fanon, you would realize that Amel draws extensively from Fanon's writings, especially his book the wretched of the Earth. However, Amel goes deeper and provides a nuanced Marxist analysis of underdevelopment in post-independence.

[Benjamin Solidarity · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Amel presents some interesting insights and ideas on his critique of Said and his theory of the mutual relationship between capitalism and colonialism, at times the language was highly repetitive and difficult to get through. Not sure if that is a translation issue or more of an effect of academia speak.

[Mariam Rawwas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amel seeks to elucidate a colonial mode of production, which ends up looking rather far from Marx's standard category: Amel emphasizes underdevelopment, and the effects this has when the "colonial" (underdeveloped) country engages in foreign trade. This might not be particularly novel as an analysis, but it is reminiscent of the image forwarded in Karatani's Marx: Towards the Centre of Possibility, on a synchronic reading of capital that emphasizes global inequality in the realm of exchange, moving us towards his conception of modes of exchange (from The Structure of World History).

[lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

amel argues that class struggles must be acknowledged in order for the anti-colonial movements in the middle east to be truly successful. interesting take of the necessity of marxist theory to be integrated into the arab world in order to achieve liberation. one of my fav takes from this book is his criticism of the national bourgeoisie in the arab world (aka the local ruling elites), who are complicit with imperialism and aim to simply maintain their power moreso than to attain liberation for the people. pan arabism <3

[Jnoub101 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most important Marxist scholar on Lebanese history and politics accessible in the English language. I fully recommend this work for anyone who wants to build a serious understanding of the current state of Lebanese politics.

Not to mention the fact that this book is also a fantastic theoretical work, offering an introduction to Amel's theories of development.