This book brings together for the first time the work of many of the leading scholars in the field of Middle East working-class history. Using historical material from nineteenth-century Syria, late Ottoman Anatolia, republican Turkey, Egypt from the late nineteenth century through the Sadat period, Iran before and after the overthrow of the Shah, and Ba`thist Iraq, the authors explore different forms and interpretations of working-class identity, action, and organization as expressed in language, culture, and behavior. In addition, they examine different narratives of labor history and the place of workers in their respective national histories. Included are articles by Feroz Ahmad, Assef Bayat, Joel Beinin, Edmund Burke III, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Eric Davis, Ellis Goldberg, Kristin Koptiuch, Zachary Lockman, Marsha Pripstein Posusney, Donald Quataert, and Sherry Vatter. The book provides not only an introduction to the "state of the field" in Middle East working-class history but also demonstrates how that field is being influenced by the new paradigms which are transforming labor history and social history more broadly worldwide. It also opens the way for fruitful comparisons among Middle Eastern countries and between the Middle East and other parts of the world.

Joel Beinin's book offers a survey of subaltern history in the Middle East.

In this reissue of a book that was hailed as groundbreaking almost as soon as it was published, the authors examine the role of trade unionism and the working class in the development of Egyptian nationalism during the first half of the twentieth century. Beinin and Lockman examine "the dialectic of class and nation [and] the formation of a new class of wage workers as Egypt experienced a particular kind of capitalist development ... and these workers' adoption of various forms of consciousness, organization, and collective action in a political and economic context structured by the realities of foreign domination and the struggle for national independence." "This work breaks new ground in contemporary Western scholarship on the Middle East and challenges Orientalist assumptions that classes do not exist, or play only an insignificant role. The authors' careful and comprehensive account of the workers and their unions is obviously understanding of, and sympathetic to, the working class. Yet it is free of the rather mechanistic and reductionist analyses of earlier writings on the subject." -- Nazih Ayubi, MESA Bulletin.

Turmoil in the Middle East highlights the impact of imperialism, war, and political turmoil in the Middle East throughout the course of the twentieth-century—from the devastation of the First World War through the many crises and conflicts that have led to cycles of war, uprisings, coups, revolts, and revolutions. It focuses on the internal contradictions of Middle Eastern states driven by the dynamics of class conflict and class struggle in various realms of society and social relations. Berberoglu examines the political economy of long-embedded conflicts and crises in the Middle East, paying special attention to the role of powerful, external forces stemming from Western imperialism and led by Britain, France, and later the United States.

Joel Beinin's survey of subaltern history in the Middle East demonstrates lucidly and compellingly how the lives, experiences and culture of working people can inform our historical understanding. Beginning in the middle of the eighteenth century, the book charts the history of peasants, urban artisans and modern working-classes across the lands of the Ottoman empire and its Muslim-majority successor-states, including the Balkans, Turkey, the Arab Middle East and North Africa. Inspired by the approach of the Indian Subaltern Studies school, the book is the first to offer a synthesized critical assessment of the scholarly work on the social history of this region for the last twenty years. It offers insights into the political, economic and social life of ordinary men and women and their apprehension of their own experiences. Students will find it rich in narrative detail, and accessible and authoritative in presentation.

This book brings together for the first time the work of many of the leading scholars in the field of Middle East working-class history. Using historical material from nineteenth-century Syria, late Ottoman Anatolia, republican Turkey, Egypt from the late nineteenth century through the Sadat period, Iran before and after the overthrow of the Shah, and Ba`thist Iraq, the authors explore different forms and interpretations of working-class identity, action, and organization as expressed in language, culture, and behavior. In addition, they examine different narratives of labor history and the place of workers in their respective national histories. Included are articles by Feroz Ahmad, Assef Bayat, Joel Beinin, Edmund Burke III, Dipesh Chakrabarty, Eric Davis, Ellis Goldberg, Kristin Koptiuch, Zachary Lockman, Marsha Pripstein Posusney, Donald Quataert, and Sherry Vatter. The book provides not only an introduction to the “state of the field” in Middle East working-class history but also demonstrates how that field is being influenced by the new paradigms which are transforming labor history and social history more broadly worldwide. It also opens the way for fruitful comparisons among Middle Eastern countries and between the Middle East and other parts of the world.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the last 100 years in the Middle East from the perspective of social history. It is apt to date the beginning of the modern Middle East to the industrialization era, while it extends its reach into the present. Taking its lead from modernization theory, this book illustrates past expectations of the present and helps to understand everyday occurrences rather than sensational events. It adopts a multi-disciplinary perspective and concentrates on the relationship between history and social theory. From a historical perspective, the categories of social anthropology and social theory are referred to as social mobility, urbanization, migration, cultural change, gender identities and the young generation. The book addresses the primary issues of importance for the region, namely: natural and human resources; demography and its dynamics; family life; patriarchy and the emancipation of women; class structure and social mobility; ethnic and religious minorities; migration and its impact on culture and politics; refugees’ problems in historical and contemporary contexts; urbanization in the Middle Eastern context; the challenges of development; and, finally, the social and political consequences of the Arab Spring.