Algeria

Djamilah

"Egyptian historical film about one of the most important figures in the history of Algeria, Djamila Bouhired. This film is regarded as not only highlighting the story of an important female revolutionary, but also showing the struggle of the Algerian people against the French occupation."

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051539/

Algeria at a Crossroads: National Liberation, Islamization and Women

Citation:

Cherifati-Merabtine, D. 1994. “Algeria at a Crossroads: National Liberation, Islamization and Women.” in Gender and National Identity, 192. London: Zed Books. 

Author: Doria Cherifati-Merabtine

Abstract:

"Gender politics exist inevitably in all Islamist movements that expect women to assume the burden of a largely male-defined tradition. Even in secular political movements in the Muslim world - notably those anti-colonial national liberation movements where women were actively involved- women have experiences since independence a general reversal of the gains made. This collection written by women from the countries concerned explores the gender dynamics of a variety of political movements with very different trajectories to reveal how nationalism, revolution and Islamization are all gendered processes. The authors explore women's experiences in the Algerian national liberation movement and more recently the fundamentalist FIS; similarly their involvement in the struggle to construct a Bengali national identity and independent Bangladeshi state; the events leading to the overthrow of the Shah and subsequent Islamization of Iran; revolution and civil war in Afghanistan; and the Palestinian Intifada. This book argues that in periods of rapid political change, women in Muslim societies are in reality central to efforts to construct a national identity" (University of Chicago Press). 

Annotation:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

Glossary Note on Transliteration

Preface and Acknowledgements

1. Introduction and overview - Valentine M Moghadam

2. Feminine Militancy: Moudjahidates during and after the Algerian War - Cherifa Bouatta

3. Algeria at a crossroads: national liberation, Islamization and women - Doria Cherifati - Merabtine

4. National identity, fundamentalism and the women's movement in Bangladesh - Salma Sobhan

5. Reform, revolution and reaction: the trajectory of the 'Woman Question' in Afghanistan - Valentine M Moghadam

6. Modernity, Islamization, and women in Iran - Nayereh Tohidi

7. Nationalism and feminism: Palestinian women and the Intifada - No Going Back? - Nahla Abdo

Topics: Armed Conflict, National Liberation Wars, Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Gender, Women, Nationalism, Political Participation Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa Countries: Algeria

Year: 1994

Feminine Militancy: Moudjahidates During and After the Algerian War

Citation:

Bouatta, C. 1994. “Feminine Militancy: Moudjahidates During and After the Algerian War.” In Gender and National Identity, edited by Valentine Moghadam, 192. London: Zed Books.

Author: C. Bouatta

Abstract:

Gender politics exist inevitably in all Islamist movements that expect women to assume the burden of a largely male-defined tradition. Even in secular political movements in the Muslim world - notably those anti-colonial national liberation movements where women were actively involved- women have experiences since independence a general reversal of the gains made. This collection written by women from the countries concerned explores the gender dynamics of a variety of political movements with very different trajectories to reveal how nationalism, revolution and Islamization are all gendered processes.  The authors explore women's experiences in the Algerian national liberation movement and more recently the fundamentalist FIS; similarly their involvement in the struggle to construct a Bengali national identity and independent Bangladeshi state; the events leading to the overthrow of the Shah and subsequent Islamization of Iran; revolution and civil war in Afghanistan; and the Palestinian Intifada.  This book argues that in periods of rapid political change, women in Muslim societies are in reality central to efforts to construct a national identity. (Zed Books)

Topics: Armed Conflict, National Liberation Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, DDR, Gender, Women, Violence Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Asia, Middle East, South Asia Countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, Iran, Palestine / Occupied Palestinian Territories

Year: 1994

La Nouba des Femmes du Mont-Chenoua

"Returning to her native region 15 years after the end of the Algerian war, Lila is obsessed by memories of the war for independence that defined her childhood. In dialogue with other Algerian women, she reflects on the differences between her life and theirs. In lyrical footage she contemplates the power of grandmothers who pass down traditions of anti-colonial resistance to their heirs.

Feminism Inshallah: A History Of Arab Feminism

"The struggle for Muslim women’s emancipation is often portrayed stereotypically as a showdown between Western and Islamic values, but Arab feminism has existed for more than a century. This groundbreaking documentary recounts Arab feminism’s largely unknown story, from its taboo-shattering birth in Egypt by feminist pioneers up through viral Internet campaigns by today’s tech-savvy young activists during the Arab Spring.

Rachida

"The first full-length feature film by Yamina Bachir evokes memories of the worst atrocities of the terror in Algeria. The young teacher Rachida is teaching at a school in Algiers, when she is stopped in the street by a group of youths who demand she take a bomb and place it in the school. She recognizes one of the terrorists and refuses. Then she is cold-bloodedly shot and left for dead. Miraculously, she survives. To recover, she hides with her mother in a village far from the city.

The Ideal Refugees: Islam, Gender, and the Sahrawi Politics of Survival

Citation:

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena. 2014. The Ideal Refugees: Islam, Gender, and the Sahrawi Politics of Survival. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.

Author: Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh

Abstract:

Refugee camps are typically perceived as militarized and patriarchal spaces, and yet the Sahrawi refugee camps and their inhabitants have consistently been represented as ideal in nature: uniquely secular and democratic spaces, and characterized by gender equality. Drawing on extensive research with and about Sahrawi refugees in Algeria, Cuba, Spain, South Africa, and Syria, Fiddian-Qasmiyeh explores how, why, and to what effect such idealized depictions have been projected onto the international arena. In The Ideal Refugees, the author argues that secularism and the empowerment of Sahrawi refugee women have been strategically invoked to secure the humanitarian and political support of Western state and non-state actors who ensure the continued survival of the camps and their inhabitants. This book challenges the reader to reflect critically on who benefits from assertions of good, bad, and ideal refugees, and whose interests are advanced by interwoven discourses about the empowerment of women and secularism in contexts of war and peace.--Publisher Description

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Refugee/IDP Camps, Gender, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Religion Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, Asia, Middle East, Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Algeria, Cuba, Spain, Syria, Western Sahara

Year: 2014

Transnational Abductions and Transnational Responsibilities? The Politics of ‘protecting’ Female Muslim Refugees Abducted from Spain

Citation:

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena. 2014. “Transnational Abductions and Transnational Responsibilities? The Politics of ‘protecting’ Female Muslim Refugees Abducted from Spain.” Gender, Place & Culture 21 (2): 174–94.

Author: Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh

Abstract:

This article examines evolving gendered protection narratives surrounding four ‘abduction’ cases in which Sahrawi refugee girls and young women living in Spain were ‘abducted’ by their birth-families and forcibly returned to the Algerian-based Sahrawi refugee camps between 2002 and 2009. By exploring Spanish state and civil society responses to these girls' ‘abductions’, I argue that there has been a major shift in the ways in which legitimate responsibility and authority over Sahrawi refugee women as Muslim female forced migrants have been conceptualised and invoked by Spanish actors. I therefore assess the gendered nature of competing claims of responsibility to ‘protect’ Sahrawi refugee women both within and outside of the Algerian-based Sahrawi refugee camps, exploring the motivations and implications of different actors' in/actions towards these girls and women. With Polisario claiming to represent and act as a liberal ‘state’ committed to protecting the rights of its ‘refugee-citizens’ in some instances, while denying politico-legal responsibility in others, the question of ‘who’ or ‘what’ claims the legitimate authority to ‘protect’ Sahrawi refugee women and girls is thus accentuated by such cases. By exploring shifts in Spanish public and political discourses of responsibility over the past decade on the one hand, and the accentuation of competing discourses as presented by Spanish, Polisario and Algerian actors on the other, this article highlights the complex nature and implications of the ‘intimate’ Spanish civil society networks that ensure the physical and political survival of the Sahrawi refugee camps. Ultimately, I argue that Sahrawi girls and women have become hypervisible in Spain, being conceptualised as women who ‘belong’ to the Spanish nation that in turn has a responsibility to ‘protect’ ‘our’ Sahrawi women from ‘their’ culture.

Keywords: abduction, contested sovereignty, orientalism, protection scenarios, refugee women, Sahrawi refugees

Topics: Displacement & Migration, Refugees, Gender, Women, Religion Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Europe, Southern Europe Countries: Algeria, Spain

Year: 2014

Women, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Deforestation: a Cross-National Study

Citation:

Shandra, John M., Carrie L. Shandra, and Bruce London. 2008. “Women, Non-Governmental Organizations, and Deforestation: A Cross-National Study.” Population and Environment 30 (1-2): 48–72.

Authors: John M. Shandra, Carrie L. Shandra, Bruce London

Abstract:

There have been several cross-national studies published in the world polity theoretical tradition that find a strong correlation between nations with high levels of environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and low levels of various forms of environmental degradation. However, these studies neglect the role that women’s NGOs potentially play in this process. We seek to address this gap by conducting a cross-national study of the association between women’s NGOs and deforestation. We examine this relationship because deforestation often translates into increased household labor, loss of income, and impaired health for women and, as a result, women’s non-governmental organizations have become increasingly involved in dealing with these problems often by protecting forests. We use data from a sample of 61 nations for the period of 1990–2005. We find substantial support for world polity theory that both high levels of women’s and environmental NGOs per capita are associated with lower rates of deforestation. We also find that high levels of debt service and structural adjustment are correlated with higher rates of forest loss. We conclude with a discussion of findings, policy implications, and possible future research directions.

Keywords: deforestation, women, non-governmental organizations, cross-national

Topics: Economies, Environment, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, NGOs Regions: Africa, MENA, Central Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa, Americas, Caribbean countries, Central America, North America, South America, Asia, East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Baltic states, Balkans, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Oceania Countries: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Honduras, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Year: 2008

Les combattantes de la guerre d’Algérie

Citation:

Amrane, Djamila. 1992. “Les combattantes de la guerre d’Algérie.” Matériaux pour l’histoire de notre temps 26 (1): 58‑62.

English: Amrane, Djamila. 1992. “The Female combatants of Algeria’s war.” Materials for the history of our times 26 (1): 58‑62.

Author: Djamila Amrane

Annotation:

Article details the various female combatents in the Algerian War—a topic that has been ignored by the literature. Various types include: “Les Maquisardes”, who were cooks and nurses and worked on the front; “Les Fidayate”, a minority, these women were directly involved with combat and the placement of bombs; “Les Moussebilate” or resistant civilians. Together these women help give a better illustration of female involvement in the war and the “portrait of a woman combatent”. The article ends with a description of female combatents after the war.

Quotes:

“De larges pans de l'histoire de la guerre d’Algérie restent encore très mal connus. Le combat des Algériennes notamment a été largement occulté, comme si l'histoire de ces sept années de guerre pouvait s'inscrire en faisant abstraction d'une moitié du peuple algérien: les femmes”. (Amrane, p 1)

Topics: Armed Conflict, National Liberation Wars, Combatants, Female Combatants, Gender, Women, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa Countries: Algeria

Year: 1992

Pages

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