Emancipation within Empire

An Algerian Alternative during the Era of Decolonization

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4494547
AutoresSaliha Belmessou (0000-0001-9392-8921, UNSW Sydney, autor correspondente), Saliha Belmessous (UNSW Sydney)
Ano2019
Volume88
Páginas153-179
Data de publicação2019-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoHistory Workshop Journal (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1363-3554 • E-ISSN: 1477-4569
EditoraOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/hwj/dbz030
OpenAlexW2965300829
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas22

This article aims at shedding new light on the salience of empire as a political idea even at the height of decolonization. It discusses why and how colonial subjects - here Muslim Algerians - would continue, when faced with a choice, to look to empires rather than nation-states. The article focuses on six women and men who, during Algeria's war of independence, rejected the nation-state as their political horizon and imagined a decolonized empire in which they could pursue their emancipation and that of their people. These individuals pursued various political projects that would reconcile their claims for equality and cultural distinctiveness. Though a great number of pro-French supporters fought with arms alongside the French army, others fought with ideas, producing laws that would establish civil and economic equality. While historians have conventionally focused on materialist reasons to explain the loyalty of colonized peoples to imperial polities, this article considers instead the ideas and ideals that inspired the claims expressed by Muslim Algerians. Only a focus on ideas allows us to understand why people could continue to support the French imperial state despite its being disastrous for their material circumstances

Colonialism · Decolonization · Emancipation · Empire · Independence (probability theory) · Materialism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science) · European Political History Analysis · Gender Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Law · North African History and Literature