The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States

305 Pages·2011·2.89 MB·English

by  Bruce Maddy-Weitzman

The BerBer IdenTITy
MoveMenT and The Challenge
To norTh afrICan STaTeS
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The Berber Identity
Movement and the Challenge
to North African States
Bruce Maddy-Weitzman
UnIverSITy of TexaS PreSS
Austin
Copyright © 2011 by the University of Texas Press
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Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2011
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♾ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements
of anSI/nISo Z39.48-1992 (r1997) (Permanence of Paper).
lIBrary of CongreSS CaTalogIng-In-PUBlICaTIon daTa
Maddy-Weitzman, Bruce.
The Berber identity movement and the challenge to North African
states / Bruce Maddy-Weitzman. — 1st ed.
  p.  cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBn 978-0-292-72587-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBn 978-0-292-73478-4 (E-book)
 1. Berbers—Ethnic identity. 2. Berbers—Politics and
government. 3. Morocco—Politics and government. 
4. Algeria—Politics and government. 5. Nationalism—
Morocco. 6. Nationalism—Algeria. I. Title.
dT193.5.B45M327 2011
964′.004933—dc22
2010051823
For Edie, Shira, and Daniel
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ConTenTS
Note on Transcription and Terminology ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
Part I enTerIng hISTory
one Origins and Conquests: Africa, the Mediterranean
Basin, Arabia 13
Two The Colonial Era 37
Part II IndePendenCe, MargInalIZaTIon,
and BerBer reIMagInIng
Three Morocco and Algeria: State Consolidation and
Berber “Otherness” 65
foUr Algerian Strife, Moroccan Homeopathy, and the
Emergence of the Amazigh Movement 102
Part III reenTerIng hISTory In The new
MIllennIUM 129
fIve Berber Identity and the International Arena 131
SIx Mohamed VI’s Morocco and the Amazigh Movement 153
Seven Bouteflika’s Algeria and Kabyle Alienation 183
ConClUSIon Whither the State, Whither the Berbers? 202
viii The Berber Identity Movement and the Challenge to North African States
Notes 211
Sources 255
Index 279
noTe on TranSCrIPTIon
and TerMInology
F
or the purposes of clarity and simplicity, I employ the
Arabic letters ayn (ʿ) and hamza (ʾ) in the middle and at the end of a word,
but not at the beginning, and, for the most part, the common French spell-
ing of Arabic names and places (e.g., Kabylie, not Kabylia; Mohamed, not
Muhammad). With some reluctance, I also employ the commonly written
“Hassan” for what are two distinct names in Arabic, “Hasan” and “Hassan.”
As for the use of “Berber” and “Amazigh,” the reader will see that there are
times when it was appropriate to use one, as opposed to the other, and that
at other times, I use them interchangeably, without prejudice.