Articulating the Third World in/and cultural studies

Abstract

This article seeks to articulate the Third World in/and cultural studies through a critical interrogation and refiguration of the term with reference to the current condition of global capitalism and its structuring effects on collective struggles. Tracing critiques of the term to the historical connection between the Third World and the nation-form, the article suggests a deterritorialization of the Third World to reclaim its relevance under global capitalism as a discursive site of utopian longings for unity among the oppressed and the creation of alternative futures. The deterritorialized Third World is refigured through a theoretical deployment of `queering' and discussed with reference to the experiences of Filipina domestic workers in Hong Kong.