Gender and Politics in Algeria: Unraveling the Religious Paradigm

Abstract

A settlement colony of France since 1830, Algeria underwent a fierce war between nationalist forces and French troops, which began on November 1, 1954, and ended with the overthrow of French rule and the establishment of a socialist independent government on July 3, 1962. Most conspicuously, women were active participants in the war, foreshadowing a general change in relations between Algerian women and men. Yet, throughout the war and after independence the Algerian nationalist leaders did not place the promotion of women's needs on its political agenda. For example, the Front for National Liberation (FLN), which led the anticolonial struggle, described the conditions under which women lived as in need of improvement but took few systematic and concrete measures to remedy them. Instead, it mentioned that this situation would have to be addressed after the completion of the anticolonial struggle.' Similarly, after the war, Algeria instituted an economic development program that failed to incorporate women's needs.2 Finally, in 1984, legislators passed a controversial