France and Algeria

A History of Decolonization and Transformation

Phillip Naylor

• Publisher: University of Texas Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781477328439
• eBook ISBN: 9781477328453
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: African History
• Index: History

An examination of the complicated history between France and Algeria since the latter's independence.

While most related studies concentrate on the colonial era and Algeria's War of Independence, France and Algeria details the nations' postcolonial relationship. Phillip Naylor provides a philosophical approach, contending that France reformulated, rather than repudiated, "essential" strategic values during decolonization. It thus continued to pursue grandeur and independence, especially with regard to the Third World and Algeria, an essentialism that expedited France's postcolonial transformation. But as a new nation, Algeria needed to pursue the "existential" project of self-definition. It became involved in state-building while also promulgating socialism, and it recognized how French oil concessions in the Sahara impeded its independence, leading to the industry's postcolonial decolonization. Finally, the postcolonial relationship has featured a human dimension involving immigrants, pieds-noirs (colonial settlers), and harkis (Algerian soldiers loyal to France), all of them central to bilateral relations.

In this revised and updated edition of his seminal work, first published over twenty years ago, Naylor expands his coverage of the decolonization era, drawing on new information while continuing to study the ever-evolving relationship between the two countries. These new additions expose the continually shifting relations of power, perception, and identity between the two states.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations and Tables
• Preface to the First Edition
• Preface to the Second Edition
• Acknowledgments
• List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
• A Note on the Text
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. The Colonial Relationship, 1830–1958
• Chapter 2. The Political Decolonization of Algeria and the Évian Accords, 1958–1962
• Chapter 3. Independence with Interdependence, 1962–1965
• Chapter 4. The Decline and Demise of Privileged Cooperation, 1965–1971
• Chapter 5. “Turning the Page,” 1972–1980
• Chapter 6. Redressing the Relationship, 1981–1988
• Chapter 7. Algeria’s Upheaval and France, 1988–1992
• Chapter 8. From the Civil War to the Election of Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 1992–1999
• Chapter 9. Refounding the Relationship, 1999–2023
• Chapter 10. French-Algerian Mirrors and Mirages
• Conclusion
• Notes
• References
• Index