Mecca of Revolution

Algeria, Decolonization, and the Third World Order

Jeffrey James Byrne

Oxford Studies in International History

Examines how an anti-colonial nationalist movement became radicalized through the Cold War and then led to independent Algeria's ambitious agenda to not only reshape its national identity but also international society.
Draws on unprecedented access to materials from the FLN archive and the archives of the Algerian state after independence.

Mecca of Revolution

Algeria, Decolonization, and the Third World Order

Jeffrey James Byrne

Oxford Studies in International History

Description

Amid the burgeoning literature on the connections between the global north and the global south, Mecca of Revolution is a pure example of post-colonial, or "south-south," international history. Through an examination of Algeria's interactions with the wider world, from the beginning of its war of independence to the fall of its first post-colonial regime, the Third Worldist perspective on the twentieth century comes into view. Hitherto dominant historical paradigms such as the Cold War are situated in the larger context of decolonization and the re-inclusion of the large majority of humanity in international affairs. At the same time, groundbreaking research in the archives of Algeria and a half-dozen other countries enable Mecca of Revolution to advance beyond the focus on discourse analysis that has typified previous studies of Third World internationalism. It demystifies terms like Non-Alignment, Afro-Asianism, and Bandung, and sheds new light on the relationships between the emergent elites of Africa, the Middle East, Asian, and Latin America. As one of the most prominent sites of post-colonial socialist experimentation and an epicenter of transnational guerrilla activity, Algeria was at the heart of efforts to transform global political and economic structures. Yet, the book also shows how Third Worldism evolved from a subversive transnational phenomenon into a mode of elite cooperation that reinforced the authority of the post-colonial state. In so doing, the Third World movement played a key role in the construction of the totalizing international order of the late-twentieth century. Ultimately, Mecca of Revolution shows the "post-colonial world" is all of our world.

Mecca of Revolution

Algeria, Decolonization, and the Third World Order

Jeffrey James Byrne

Oxford Studies in International History

Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Introduction
Ch. 1 Method Men: The Praxis of Anti-Colonial Resistance
Ch. 2 Our Friends Today: Algeria Joins the Third World
Ch. 3 Real Existing Third Worldism: National Development in the Age of Ideologies
Ch. 4 The Allure of Globalism: Algeria amid Continents, Colors, and the Cold War
Ch. 5 Mecca of Impatience and Anxiety: Globalizations and the Third World Order
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

Mecca of Revolution

Algeria, Decolonization, and the Third World Order

Jeffrey James Byrne

Oxford Studies in International History

Author Information

Jeffrey James Byrne, Assistant Professor of History, University of British Columbia

Jeffrey James Byrne is Assistant Professor of History at the University of British Columbia.

Mecca of Revolution

Algeria, Decolonization, and the Third World Order

Jeffrey James Byrne

Oxford Studies in International History

Reviews and Awards

Finalist, Melville J. Herskovits Prize of the African Studies Association
Honorable Mention, L. Carl Brown AIMS Book Prize of the American Institute for Maghrib Studies

"Mecca of Revolution should make a lasting impact in fields including the study of mid-century decolonization movements, Third World internationalism, and the global Cold War, among others." - Jeffrey S. Ahlman, African Studies Quarterly

"Mecca of Revolution will remain indispensable reading for anyone wishing to understand Global South-South relations after colonial liberation." - Sung-Eun Choi, American Historical Review

"the innovative and thought-provoking nature of this book, which will certainly become a standard in discussions on the global Cold War, decolonization and Third World politics." - Moritz Feichtinger, H-Soz-u-Kult

"This is an important book, a substantial contribution to scholarship both in terms of the archival sources which it brings to light and the framework of analysis which it sets up to be applied and tested in other cases." - Natalya Vince, Reviews in History

"an expansive and excellent history of Third World internationalism detailing the era from the Bandung Conference of 1955 to the overthrow of President Ahmed Ben Bella ten years later ... It is a welcomed and valuable addition to the histories of Algeria, France, the Third World, the Cold War, and North-South and South-South relations. Its breadth is admirable ... Professor Byrne's international archival research is impressive. He not only locates Algeria at multiple diplomatic 'interstices' bridging countries and continents, but also himself — a courageous, ambitious endeavor resulting in a considerable, erudite achievement." - Phillip C. Naylor, The International Journal of African Historical Studies

"[This] book offers a fascinating glimpse of how NorthSouth questions often came into conflict with EastWest logics, foregrounding the multilateral nature of non-alignment. In a field that has often studied Algeria's policies through the prism of France, this book is a groundbreaking intervention." - Muriam Haleh Davis, Journal of Interdisciplinary History

"Recommended." - CHOICE