Communist Parties in the Middle East

Communist Parties in the Middle East: 100 Years of History

One hundred years since the Russian Revolution, Communist parties have undergone great changes, in an evolution that has affected the entire Left and the social movements. Given that the impact of Communist parties and their evolution in the Middle East is a topic that has not been widely researched, Communist parties in the Middle East. 100 years of history aims to cover a century in the lives of these parties, from the moment the Communist ideology first reached the region in the early 20th century (brought by activists from minority groups) and the creation of the first parties and trades unions after the 1917 revolution, right up to the upheaval caused by the dissolution of the USSR and, more recently, the Arab Spring. The book has been designed to offer a unique, updated and comprehensive study of Communist parties in the Middle East, based on both a theoretical framework of analysis and substantial empirical research and archive documentation.

Several issues are examined in this work. When the Russian Revolution took place, the Middle Eastern region as a whole was under colonial control. This meant taking decisions related to the relationship between the class struggle and the national struggle. The composition of the communist parties in the Middle East is also analysed as is their role as the vanguard –understood in the broad sense of the word– in relation to the objectives of liberation, emancipation, revolution and system change or reform, and their connection to mass or popular movements. Furthermore, the volume looks back at the dependency or autonomy of communist parties during the Cold War and the tensions that this generated in them, as well as the search for individual constructions of communism that took into account cultural characteristics and the local context of the struggle. In this respect, one of the recurring themes in the work is the relationship between communist activism and the sectors that mobilized in the name of nationalism or political Islam. Finally, the chapters trace the history of the parties, including –for the first time in the literature– the post-Cold War period and continuing to the current situation, in which communist parties occupy a residual position in the political field, sharing space with other small groups from the real Left, new programmes adapted to neoliberal advancement in the region and the new mobilizations symbolized by the uprisings of 2010-2011.

The first section of the book presents the evolution of the CPs in Iran, Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Israel, Egypt, South Yemen, Sudan, Algeria and Morocco. The second section explores some cross-cutting issues that have affected relations between the communist parties and other political sectors: political Islam and the New Left. Through the testimony of some leading figures, it presents the arguments around the question of gender in the Arab world and in leftist circles as well as an example of the evolution of a female leftist activist, some contradictions and the prominent debates from the most convulsive years to the present.

Laura Feliu is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Faculty of Political Science and Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She leads, together with Ferran Izquierdo, the research project : "HAR2016-77876-P Transnational Dynamics and Actors in the MENA Region", financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. She has extensively worked and published on international human rights promotion, on international relations of the WANA region, and on Spanish foreign policy. Her latest publications in English include : Izquierdo, F., Etherington, J. and Feliu, L. (eds) Political Islam in a Time of Revolt. London: Palgrave (with a chapter written together with Rachid Aarab: « Political Islam in Libya. Transformation on the way to elitisation ») ; «Transnational advocacy networks (TANs) and human rights activism». In: Richard Gillespie and F. Volpi (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Mediterranean Politics. London: Routledge, 2017; and jointly with Mª Angustias Parejo Fernández: "The Western Sahara members of the Moroccan Parliament. Parliamentary Diplomacy and identity Perceptions", in Ojeda, Veguilla and Fernández-Molina. Global, Regional and Local Dimensions of Western Sahara's Protracted Decolonization. London: Palgrave, 2016.

Ferran Izquierdo-Brichs isTenured lecturer on International Relations at Autonomous University of Barcelona. His research is focused on the Sociology of power and the Arab world. He has published numerous articles on these issues, and recently the books:

Izquierdo Brichs, F., J. Etherington, L. Feliu (eds.) (2017). Political Islam in a time of revolt. London: Palgrave / Macmillan / Springer.

Izquierdo Brichs, F. y J. Etherington (2017). Poder global. Una mirada desde la Sociología del Poder. Barcelona: Bellaterra.

Ferran Izquierdo Brichs (ed.) El islam político en el Mediterráneo. Radiografía de una evolución., Barcelona, Cidob/Bellaterra, 2013.

Ferran Izquierdo Brichs (ed.) Political Regimes in the Arab World. Londres: Routledge, 2013.