Islamist Challenge in Algeria: A Political History

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In recent years, like many countries caught between the tides of fundamentalist religion and secular culture, Algeria has been rocked by social upheaval, protest, spasmodic violence, and terrorist activity. Middle East scholar Michael Willis here charts the meteoric rise of one of the largest and most powerful Islamist movements in the Muslim world. 448 pp.

SYNOPSIS

In recent years, Algeria has been rocked by social upheaval, protest, and spasmodic violence. Like many countries caught between the tides of fundamentalist religion and secular culture, the very fiber of the nation seems to be fraying.

Michael Willis here charts the meteoric rise of one of the largest and most powerful Islamist movements in the Muslim world. Tracing its origins to the French colonial domination in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Islamism has always played a defining role in both the national struggle against the French and in the newly independent Algerian state.

The primary focus of Willis's book is on Algeria since 1988, when unprecedented social unrest led to political changes that allowed Algeria's Islamists to form political parties and compete in multi- party elections. The largest Islamist party, the Front Islamique du Salut (FIS), after rousing victories in local and national elections in 1990 and 1991, was subsequently crushed by the military regime.

Since then, despite the Rome Accord of January 1995, over 50,000 lives have been lost in an increasingly bloody conflict that threatens to spiral out of control. Banned by the army, the FIS splintered, with various factions arming themselves, leading to the current, ominous state of disarray.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

In the last decade, Algeria has been transformed from a stable state to one torn apart by armed conflict. Willis (Middle Eastern studies, U. of Durham) draws on academic studies, media reports, and books to provide an account of the rise of Algeria's Islamists. Focusing on political dynamics, Willis charts the history of the Islamist movement during French colonial rule and the new Algerian state. He then discusses the Front Islamique du Salut in terms of its ideology, bases of support, influence, and relations with the Algerian regime. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

New York Review of Books

What [Willis does], and what he does extremely well, is explain how it all came about...he carefully traces the rise of Algerian Islamism from its early days during the 132 years of French colonial rule, its short moment of glory when it seemed about to take power in the late 1980s, and its subsequent crash...well-written, skillfully presented, and illuminating.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

John P. Entelis

Integrates a wealth of diverse historical and contemporary data to provide as full an understanding as one can have about political Islam's severe challenge to state and society in Algeria. — Author of State and Society in Algeria

ACCREDITATION

Michael Willis obtained his doctorate from the Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Durham, where he is currently an Honorary Research Associate.