{"podcast":{"title":"New Books in History","slug":"new-books-in-history-160748","podcast_index_feed_id":160748,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LIT3360275696","website_url":"https://newbooksnetwork.com/category/politics-society/history/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/5259aaca-f298-11e8-9c09-2ffd527922e7/image/6997b2fe61dc73a9d4ffd37b9e862b62.png?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"New Books Network","episode_count":500,"summary":"This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: ⁠newbooksnetwork.com⁠ Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: ⁠https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/⁠ Follow us on Instagram and Bluesky to learn about more our latest interviews: @newbooksnetwork Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history","last_synced_at":"2026-07-13T16:19:40.703970+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-history-160748"},"episode":{"title":"Alex Boodrookas, \"Comrades Estranged: Labor and Citizenship in the Twentieth-Century Persian Gulf\" (Stanford UP, 2026)","slug":"alex-boodrookas-comrades-estranged-labor-and-citizenship-in-the-twentieth-century-persian-gulf-stanford-up-2026","published_at":"2026-06-20T08:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-history-160748/alex-boodrookas-comrades-estranged-labor-and-citizenship-in-the-twentieth-century-persian-gulf-stanford-up-2026","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-history-160748","url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chtbl.com/track/1C3AGD/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK5850680929.mp3","audio_url":"https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chtbl.com/track/1C3AGD/traffic.megaphone.fm/NBNK5850680929.mp3","summary":"In 1975, Kuwaiti workers orchestrated arguably the most powerful citizen-led movement for noncitizen rights in the history of the Persian Gulf. Their efforts built on decades of wide-ranging struggle over the meanings and outlines of citizenship. During the twentieth century, anticolonial nationalists, pro-democracy reformers, feminists, and labor organizers joined forces to fight for a more equitable citizenship regime. In so doing, they won a remarkable series of victories: political independence, constitutional rights, and oil nationalization, reshaping not just Kuwait, but the global petroleum order. This book reframes the history of labor activism, citizenship, and decolonization in Persian Gulf by centering the history of social movements—especially organized labor. In ⁠Comrades Estranged: ⁠⁠Labor and Citizenship in the Twentieth-Century Persian Gulf⁠ (Stanford University Press, 2026), Alex Boodrookas traces how workers and their allies shaped the world-historic transformations witnessed across the region: the consolidation of British sovereignty, formation of autocratic states, inrush of hydrocarbon wealth, onset of decolonization, and rise of both mass migration and mass politics. But unions failed to incorporate noncitizens into their movement, and as Boodrookas argues, this fatally undermined the movements' strength. The contradictions of nationalist and internationalist visions proved insurmountable. Comrades Estranged thus sheds light on both the power, and the limits, of citizenship and the nation-state as the framework for political action. Dr. ⁠Alex Boodrookas⁠ is Assistant Professor of History at Metropolitan State University of Denver. ﻿Dr. ⁠Ahmed AlMaazmi⁠ is Assistant Professor of History at the United Arab Emirates University. Learn more about your…","meta_description":"In 1975, Kuwaiti workers orchestrated arguably the most powerful citizen-led movement for noncitizen rights in the history of the Persian Gulf. Their effo…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3225,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/new-books-in-history-160748/episodes/alex-boodrookas-comrades-estranged-labor-and-citizenship-in-the-twentieth-century-persian-gulf-stanford-up-2026/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/new-books-in-history-160748/alex-boodrookas-comrades-estranged-labor-and-citizenship-in-the-twentieth-century-persian-gulf-stanford-up-2026.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}