Who Controls the Past Controls the Future: How Algeria Manipulated History and Legitimated Power Using its Constitutional Charters and Legislation

Abstract

Contemporary Algeria was born after 132 years of colonization and a bloody decolonization war that lasted almost eight years. The official version and the dominant historical narrative of the war of independence has been influencing the state-owned media, the process of memorialization and the education system for years. This article will focus on how history was manipulated and used to legitimate political power using ordinary legislation as well as the highest source of law: the constitution. This article argues that by studying Algerian legislation and the various constitutional charters we can obtain key insight into ways in which the triad of the state, the party, and the army has been able to reproduce and re-appropriate symbols and narratives of the nation through constitutional measures and/or amendments.