Negotiating National Identity: Inequality and Uprising

• Rabah BENAL: Dysola Laboratory
• Djamel BENTRAR: ERIAC Laboratory 

 

Negotiating national identity: inequality and uprising

 

 

In this colloquium, we intend to analyze the question of minorities in the North of Africa particularly in Algeria and Morocco. Our observation about this question has an aim to understand why the ethnic tensions and Arabic spring took place in almost all the Arab countries except in these two countries. Our study intends to predict basing on analyzes what would happen in the coming years. Our research terrain is both countries as they have several ethnic and political problems. Then, we ask the following question: What would the future hide as events for these two countries basing on the social change factor as a fundamental point. This sample “ethnicities in Algeria and Morocco”- as a second factor- are considered as elements influencing in the social cohesion and having as a possible result a real political, social and Cultural Revolution. As a matter of fact, we consider that the political borders are not coherent with the geographic borders. To understand this matter, it is necessary to study the internal factors in the two countries in the first place (social, psychological, political and cultural structures) as means of inequality in the society. In the second place, we have to study the external factors related to the globalization (the French and American interests in this strategic region). We try to understand if the failure of transformative politics is behind the ethnic incohesion and how this could introduce a revolution spirit in the two countries. We think that such failures often force minority groups to devise other means of self-protection. Basing on the Jacob Mundy’s book on failure of transformative minority politics in Algeria, we will examine the question on inequality and its impacts on the social and political cohesion.