Third World Studies

"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 Lipsitz, author of American Studies in a Moment of Danger

"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." - Vijay Prashad, author of The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South

"Okihiro invites readers to hear him out in a series of essays along big and known theoretical concepts such as 'nationalism,' 'imperialism,' 'world-system,' 'racial formation,' and 'social formation' and a less familiar one termed 'subjectification.' Together, they constitute a kind of professional memoir, as Okihiro leads readers through the process of his personal wrestling with these concepts intellectually and pedagogically, with examples drawn from across the world temporally and spatially. Read another way, this book represents another in a growing roster of academic projects to disrupt ethnic studies as institutionalized, a backhanded compliment to its longevity and durability. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty."
  - E. Hu-DeHart, Choice

"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