Spring 2017  CM for International students
Claire Marynower 
[email protected]
History and Politics of North Africa
From Colonization to the “Arab springs” (1830-2017)
Three views of Algiers’ city center, ca. 1930, 1962, 1988.
Objectives and description
This course constitutes a comparative study of colonization, decolonization and
independence in the three North African states: Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia.
Its chronological framework reflects the history of colonial and postcolonial eras, from the
capture of Algiers in 1830 to the most recent era. It will place the events known as the “Arab
spring” in historical perspective, as they originated in Tunisia in December 2010.
Starting with the analysis of the pre-colonial situations, this course will examine how this
area progressively fell under the control of the French Empire. Drawing from the most recent
historiography, it will discuss the idea of “colonial interactions” – i.e. between colonizers and
the colonized – within a discriminatory system, in political, sociological and cultural terms.
It will then consider the growing discontent of the native populations, the birth of nationalist
movements and their struggle for independence.
Ultimately, the post-independence regimes will be analyzed. The course will provide insight
into the different North African political orders (single party regimes, multi-party veneer) and
economic models of development (from socialist to liberal systems). It will finally analyze the
three countries’ difficult path to political liberalization (democratization, political Islam,
Arab springs).
Requirements and grading
The “conférence de méthode” (CM) is aimed to be a discussion class. It implies mandatory
diligence, personal commitment and regular work. You will receive three grades, which will
finally merge into a final one through weighted average.
 Class participation (30%)
Active and well-prepared participation is expected. Readings are compulsory; at every
session we will discuss them together: take time at home to read it and take notes. One of
you, randomly selected, may be asked to present the assigned reading of the week orally.
To get ready for discussion, the following questions must be addressed to each text:
 What is the author’s main thesis?
 What arguments are developed to defend it?
 What sort of empirical material is used? Does it fit with the corresponding arguments?
 How does the text contribute to the field?
 What is your personal opinion of the text?
 Oral presentation (35%)
Each one of you will give a 10 minute-long oral presentation on an assigned topic. You will
have to hand out the outline of your presentation and your bibliography, presented according
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to international standards (please print 23 copies, 2 sides maximum). Additionally, you can
use a Powerpoint presentation.
When preparing an oral presentation, keep in mind the following methodological advice:
 An oral presentation must be built around a thesis. You are supposed to provide a
demonstration, including arguments and examples to prove your assertions.
 You need to use academic sources for your presentation: books, academic journals
articles, newspapers or magazine articles if they are scholarly in nature. Online sources are
OK, but again they need to be scholarly in nature: wikipedia.com does not count! However
you may use it, as well as movies, blogs, radio programs, in addition to academic sources.
 Final exam (35%)
You will take a test by mid-April. You will be asked to write an essay on a subject dealing
with the topics raised in class and in the readings.
Course schedule
1. Introduction Course overview.
2. Conquest, violence and resistance
Reading
Benjamin Claude Brower, “Exterminating the French at Djelfa, 1861”,
in A Desert named Peace: The Violence of France’s Empire in the Algerian
Sahara, 1844-1902. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009, 93137 (extracts).
Oral presentation 1 Did France colonize Algeria for economic purposes?
Oral presentation 2 From autonomous makhzan government to French protectorate:
Morocco unsullied?
Specific bibliography
Miller, Susan Gilson. 2013.
Sessions, Jennifer Elson. 2011.
3. North African societies between tradition and agency
Reading
Jessica Marglin, “The two lives of Mas’ud Amoyal: Pseudo-Algerians
in Morocco, 1830-1912”, International Journal of Middle Eastern studies,
Vol. 44, No. 4, November 2012, 651-670.
Oral presentation 1 Can a traditional Islamic city be fully colonized? The impact of
European colonialism in Morocco.
Oral presentation 2 Migrations of Algerian natives (1830-1920): anticolonial resistance?
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Specific bibliography
Brown, Kenneth L. 1976.
Christelow, Allan. 2012.
Rosen, Lawrence. 1984.
4. Colonial power and discrimination
Reading
Joshua Cole, “Constantine before the riots of August 1934: civil status,
anti-Semitism, and the politics of assimilation in interwar French
Algeria”, The Journal of North African Studies, Vol. 17, No. 5, December
2012, 839-861.
Oral presentation 1 Can the Tunisian protectorate, from invasion to the 1930s, be
considered as an indirect model of rule and sovereignty?
Oral presentation 2 France’s intelligence services in North Africa: did political surveillance
foster the rise of nationalism?
Specific bibliography
Lewis, Mary Dewhurst. 2013.
Thomas, Martin. 2008.
5. Ethnic minorities in North Africa
Reading
Sarah Abrevaya Stein, “Dividing south from north: French
colonialism, Jews, and the Algerian Sahara”, The Journal of North
African Studies, Vol. 17, No. 5, December 2012, 773-792.
Oral presentation 1 Jewish people in the North African colonies: one people, three fates?
Oral presentation 2 Did French colonizers invent the Berber people?
Specific bibliography
Lewis, Mary Dewhurst. 2013.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce. 2011.
Silverstein, Paul A. 2004.
6. The rise of nationalism
Reading
Mary Dewhurst Lewis, “Necropoles and nationality: Land rights,
burial rites and the development of Tunisian national consciousness in
the 1930s”, Past and Present, No. 205, November 2009, 105-141.
Oral presentation 1 Did the Istiqlal Party make a nationalist leader of a Sultan?
Oral presentation 2 Defining a modern Algerian national identity: could Islamic teachers
and writers in Algeria avoid speaking in colonial words?
Specific bibliography
McDougall, James. 2006.
Zisenwine, Daniel. 2010.
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7. Decolonization: war, violence, negotiation
Reading
“Savage Wars? Codes of Violence in Algeria, 1830s-1990s”, Third
World Quaterly, Vol. 26, No. 1, 2005, 117-131.
Oral presentation 1 Why can the Algerian war for independence be considered as a “filthy
war”?
Oral presentation 2 Making Morocco independent: make negotiations, not war?
Specific bibliography
Crapanzano, Vincent. 2011.
Evans, Martin, et John Phillips. 2007.
Lazreg, Marnia. 2008.
MacMaster, Neil. 2009.
Zisenwine, Daniel. 2010.
8. Culture, colonialism and post-colonialism
Reading
David Prochaska, “History as Literature, Literature as History:
Cagayous of Algiers”, The American Historical Review, Vol. 101, No. 3,
June 1996, 670-711.
Oral presentation 1 Is France haunted? Colonialism and post-colonialism in French
literature.
Oral presentation 2 Can post-colonial issues be resolved through soccer?
Specific bibliography
Barclay, Fiona. 2011.
Silverstein, Paul A. 2004.
9. Independent regimes, authoritarian regimes?
Reading
Derek Hopwood, “Tunisia under Bourguiba” in Habib Bourguiba of
Tunisia. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1992, 80-94.
Oral presentation 1 Algerian official narratives since 1962: can a story found a State?
Oral presentation 2 Does Tunisian women’s emancipation mean political liberalization
under Bourguiba and Ben Ali?
Specific bibliography
Brand, Laurie A. 2014.
Zisenwine, Daniel, et Bruce Maddy-Weitzman. 2007.
10. Democratization and its failures, I
Reading
Entelis, John P., “Political Islam in the Mahgreb: the Nonviolent
Dimension.” In Islam, Democracy, and the State in North Africa.
Bloomington (In.) : Indiana University Press, 1997, 43-74.
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Oral presentation 1 The Berber question in independent North Africa: colonization
continued?
Oral presentation 2 The Algerian Black Decade, a civil war?
Specific bibliography
Evans, Martin, et John Phillips. 2007.
Izquierdo Brichs, Ferran. 2012.
Le Sueur, James D. 2010.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce, et Daniel Zisenwine. 2013.
Ottaway, Marina, et Julia Choucair-Vizoso. 2008.
Silverstein, Paul A. 2004.
Zisenwine, Daniel, et Bruce Maddy-Weitzman. 2007.
11. Democratization and its failures, II
Reading
Marina Ottaway and Meredith Riley, “Morocco: top-down reform
without democratic transition », in Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in
the Arab World. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, 2008, 161-186.
Oral presentation 1 Mohammed VI: a new policy for a new king?
Oral presentation 2 Did national reconciliation really take place in Algeria under President
Bouteflika?
Specific bibliography
Izquierdo Brichs, Ferran. 2012.
Le Sueur, James D. 2010.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce, et Daniel Zisenwine. 2013.
12. The Arab Springs
Reading
Amin Allal, “Becoming Revolutionary in Tunisia” in Joel Beinin et
Frédéric Vairel. Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the
Middle East and North Africa. Stanford (Calif.): Stanford University
Press, 2013, 185-204.
Oral presentation 1 The Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia: an outburst that came out of
nowhere?
Oral presentation 2 Was there no “Arab revolution” in Morocco and Algeria?
Specific bibliography
Beinin, Joel, et Frédéric Vairel. 2013.
Ekine, Sokari, et Firoze Madatally Manji. 2012.
Haddad, Bassam, Rosie Bsheer, et Ziad Abu-Rish. 2012.
Miller, Laurel E., éd. 2012.
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Bibliography
The following books are available on the campus either at Sciences Po library or at Grenoble
University Library (Law and Literature), and/or on Google books. There is, of course, a
much wider bibliography available in French on the same topics.
Anderson, Lisa. The state and social transformation in Tunisia and Libya. Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1986.
Barclay, Fiona. Writing postcolonial France. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books, 2011.
Beinin, Joel, et Frédéric Vairel. Social Movements, Mobilization, and Contestation in the Middle East
and North Africa. 2nd edition. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2013.
Benrabah, Mohamed. Language Conflict in Algeria: From Colonialism to Post-Independence. Bristol:
Multilingual matters, 2013.
Beyond the Arab Spring: Authoritarianism & Democratization in the Arab World. Boulder, Colo.
London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012.
Brand, Laurie A. Official Stories: Politics and National Narratives in Egypt and Algeria. Stanford, Calif.:
Stanford University Press, 2014.
———. Women, the State, and Political Liberalization: Middle Eastern and North African Experiences.
New York: Columbia University Press, 1998.
Brower, Benjamin Claude. A desert named peace. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
Browers, Michaelle. Political Ideology in the Arab World: Accomodation and Transformation.
Cambridge New York Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Brown, Kenneth L. People of Salé: Tradition and Change in a Moroccan City 1830-1930. Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1976.
Cavatorta, Francesco. The international dimension of the failed Algerian transition. Manchester ; New
York: Manchester University Press, 2009.
Christelow, Allan. Algerians without Borders: The Making of a Global Frontier Society. Gainesville, Fla.
Tallahassee, Fla. Tampa, Fla.: University Press of Florida, 2012.
Cook, Steven A. Ruling but Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria,
and Turkey. A Council on Foreign Relations Book. Baltimore, Md: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2007.
Cooper, Frederick. Colonialism in Question: Theory, Knowledge, History. Berkeley (Calif.) Los
Angeles, Calif. London: University of California Press, 2005.
Crapanzano, Vincent. The Harkis. Chicago London: University of Chicago Press, 2011.
Miller, Laurel E., éd. Democratization in the Arab World: Prospects and Lessons from around the Globe.
Santa Monica, Calif: RAND, 2012.
Diamond, Larry Jay, et Marc F. Plattner. Democratization and Authoritarianism in the Arab World.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014.
Ekine, Sokari, et Firoze Madatally Manji. African Awakening: The Emerging Revolutions. Cape
Town: Pambazuka Press, 2012.
Evans, Martin, et John Phillips. Algeria: Anger of the Dispossessed. New Haven London: Yale
University Press, 2007.
Gerges, Fawaz A. The New Middle East: Protest and Revolution in the Arab World. New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2014.
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Haddad, Bassam, Rosie Bsheer, et Ziad Abu-Rish. The Dawn of the Arab Uprisings: End of an Old
Order ?. London: Pluto Press, 2012.
Howard, Philip N., et Muzammil M. Hussain. Democracy’s Fourth Wave ?: Digital Media and the
Arab Spring. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.
Izquierdo Brichs, Ferran. Political Regimes in the Arab World: Society and the Exercise of Power.
Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Politics 45. London New York: Routledge, 2012.
Lazreg, Marnia. Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad. Human Rights and
Crimes against Humanity. Princeton, N.J. Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Le Sueur, James D. Algeria since 1989: Between Terror and Democracy. Halifax, N.S. London:
Fernwood Pub. Zed Books, 2010.
Lewis, Mary Dewhurst. Divided Rule - Sovereignty and Empire in French Tunisia, 1881-1938. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2013.
Lowi, Miriam R. Oil Wealth and the Poverty of Politics: Algeria Compared. Cambridge Middle East
Studies 32. Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009.
MacMaster, Neil. Burning the Veil: The Algerian War and the « Emancipation » of Muslim Women,
1954-62. Manchester New York: Manchester University Press, 2009.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce. The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States.
Austin: University of Texas Press, 2011.
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce, et Daniel Zisenwine. Contemporary Morocco: State, Politics and Society
under Mohammmed VI. London: Routledge, 2013.
Makdisi, Samir A., et Ibrahim Elbadawi. Democracy in the Arab World: Explaining the Deficit..
London New York: Routledge, 2011.
McDougall, James. History and the Culture of nationalism in Algeria. Cambridge/New York:
Cambridge University Press, 2006 not available at the library, you can borrow it from me.
Miller, Susan Gilson. A History of Modern Morocco. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
Monshipouri, Mahmood. Democratic Uprisings in the New Middle East: Youth, Technology, Human
Rights, and US Foreign Policy. Boulder, Colo. London: Paradigm Publishers, 2014.
Nelson, Harold D. Tunisia, a Country Study. Washington: U.S. Govt. Print. Off, 1979.
Ottaway, Marina, et Julia Choucair-Vizoso. Beyond the Facade: Political Reform in the Arab World.
Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2008.
Perkins, Kenneth. A History of Modern Tunisia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Rosen, Lawrence. Bargaining for Reality: The Construction of Social Relations in a Muslim Community.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
Sessions, Jennifer Elson. By Sword and Plow: France and the Conquest of Algeria. Ithaca, N.Y.
London: Cornell University Press, 2011.
Silverstein, Paul A. Algeria in France: Transpolitics, Race, and Nation. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 2004.
Stora, Benjamin. Algeria, 1830-2000: A Short History. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press,
2004.
Thomas, Martin. Empires of Intelligence: Security Services and Colonial Disorder after 1914. Berkeley
Los Angeles London: University of California Press, 2008.
Willis, Michael J. Politics and Power in the Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco from Independence to
the Arab Spring. London: Hurst Publishers, 2012.
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Zisenwine, Daniel. The Emergence of Nationalist Politics in Morocco: The Rise of the Independence Party
and the Struggle against Colonialism after World War II. London New York: Tauris Academic
Studies, 2010.
Zisenwine, Daniel, et Bruce Maddy-Weitzman. The Maghrib in the New Century: Identity, Religion,
and Politics. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2007.
Academic journals
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Journal of North African Studies
Maghreb Review
British Journal of Middle Eastern studies
International Journal of Middle Eastern studies
Middle East Journal
Middle Eastern Studies
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