It is often asserted that West German New Leftists "discovered the Third World" in the pivotal decade of the 1960s. Quinn Slobodian upsets that storyline by beginning with individuals from the Third World themselves: students from Africa, Asia, and Latin America who arrived on West German campuses in large numbers in the early 1960s. They were the first to mobilize German youth in protest against acts of state violence and injustice perpetrated beyond Europe and North America. The activism of the foreign students served as a model for West German students, catalyzing social movements and influencing modes of opposition to the Vietnam War. In turn, the West Germans offered the international students solidarity and safe spaces for their dissident engagements. This collaboration helped the West German students to develop a more nuanced, empathetic understanding of the Third World, not just as a site of suffering, poverty, and violence, but also as the home of politicized individuals with the capacity and will to speak in their own names.

In this completely revised second edition, Vicky Randall and Robin Theobald review the principal theoretical approaches to the postwar study of Third World politics. Instead of undergoing Western-model modernization as predicted, developing countries have seen the proliferation of one-party states, military coups, communal violence, corruption, and economic dependence. Randall and Theobald survey and analyze the varied theories born of these developments, with examples from such nations as Chile, Indonesia, Pakistan, Syria, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania.

This second edition has been expanded to include discussions of the international debt crisis, the impact of globalization on the postcolonial world, the rise of newly industrialized countries, and the upsurge in religion-based conflict in the post–Cold War era. Describing the strengths and weaknesses of the existing interpretive approaches to these issues, the authors explore the often difficult relationship between political change and economic development. At the same time they provide a comprehensive view into the turbulent politics of the Third World and suggest how future analysis can build on present approaches to reflect political reality more fully.
An essential text for students of political science and Third World societies, this volume will also interest anyone seeking a clearer understanding of the current issues underlying the politics of these countries.