TY - JOUR

T1 - Oil, Labour and Empire

T2 - Abadan in WWII Occupied Iran

AU - Elling, Rasmus Christian

AU - Abdul Razak, Rowena

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - By uncovering and scrutinizing the politics of labour during the Second World War in the world’s biggest oil refinery – located in the city of Abadan in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzistan – this article aims to strengthen our understanding of the Second World War in the Middle East generally and our understanding of the role of oil company power in Iran specifically. By analysing changes in and around the urban oil industry complex at Abadan, the present article will thus provide new insights into British imperial strategy in the context of the 1941–1946 British–Soviet occupation of Iran. We argue that the Anglo–Iranian Oil Company, in partial concert with British state and military actors and institutions, managed to turn threats and challenges arising from the war into opportunities for expanding power and experimenting with a new security regime that was designed to curb rising socialist and anti-colonial nationalist activism. This overlapping history of the Second World War, oil, labour and empire, then, is not only key to a fuller understanding of Iran, the Middle East and the world on the cusp of the Cold War but can also contribute to the historical analysis of energy imperialism.

AB - By uncovering and scrutinizing the politics of labour during the Second World War in the world’s biggest oil refinery – located in the city of Abadan in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzistan – this article aims to strengthen our understanding of the Second World War in the Middle East generally and our understanding of the role of oil company power in Iran specifically. By analysing changes in and around the urban oil industry complex at Abadan, the present article will thus provide new insights into British imperial strategy in the context of the 1941–1946 British–Soviet occupation of Iran. We argue that the Anglo–Iranian Oil Company, in partial concert with British state and military actors and institutions, managed to turn threats and challenges arising from the war into opportunities for expanding power and experimenting with a new security regime that was designed to curb rising socialist and anti-colonial nationalist activism. This overlapping history of the Second World War, oil, labour and empire, then, is not only key to a fuller understanding of Iran, the Middle East and the world on the cusp of the Cold War but can also contribute to the historical analysis of energy imperialism.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Historie

KW - Iran

KW - Mellemøsten

KW - Olie

KW - Imperialisme

KW - 2. Verdenskrig

KW - Storbritannien

KW - Arbejderbevægelsen

KW - Arbejderhistorie

KW - Byhistorie

U2 - 10.1080/13530194.2021.1938971

DO - 10.1080/13530194.2021.1938971

M3 - Journal article

VL - 50

SP - 142

EP - 159

JO - British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

JF - British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

SN - 1353-0194

IS - 1

ER -