1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910433239603321

Autore

MacMaster Neil <1945->

Titolo

Burning the veil : the Algerian war and the 'emancipation' of Muslim women, 1954-62 / / Neil MacMaster

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Manchester University Press, 2020

Manchester, UK : , : Manchester University Press, , 2009

Manchester, UK : , : Manchester University Press, , [2020]

ISBN

1-5261-4618-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xvi, 416 pages) : illustrations; digital file(s)

Disciplina

965.046

Soggetti

Muslim women - Algeria

Algeria History Revolution, 1954-1962

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

First published: 2009; re-issued in paperback: 2012; published online: 2020.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction -- 1. From the Sétif massacre to the November insurrection: the origins of the Algerian women’s movement, 1945-54 -- 2. The origins of the emancipation campaign, November 1954 to May 1958 -- 3. Unveiling: the ‘revolutionary journées’ of 13 May 1958 -- 4. The propaganda offensive and the strategy of contact -- 5. The Mouvement de Solidarité Féminine: army wives and domesticating the ‘native’ -- 6. Military ‘pacification’ and the women of Bordj Okhriss -- 7. The Mobile Socio-Medical Teams (EMSI): making contact with peasant society.--  8. The battle over the personal status law of 1959 -- 9. The FLN and the role of women during the war -- 10. From women’s radical nationalism to the restoration of patriarchy (1959-62) -- 11. The post-independence state and the conservative marginalisation of women -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index.

Sommario/riassunto

Burning the veil draws upon sources from newly-opened archives, exploring the ‘emancipation’ of Muslim women from the veil, seclusion and perceived male oppression during the Algerian War of decolonisation. The claimed French liberation was contradicted by the violence inflicted on women through rape, torture and destruction of villages. This book examines the roots of this contradiction in the theory of ‘revolutionary warfare’, and the attempt to defeat the National



Liberation Front by penetrating the Muslim family, seen as a bastion of resistance. Striking parallels with contemporary Afghanistan and Iraq, French ‘emancipation’ produced a backlash that led to deterioration in the social and political position of Muslim women. This analysis of how and why attempts to Westernise Muslim women ended in catastrophe has contemporary relevance and will be important to students and academics engaged in the study of French and colonial history, feminism and contemporary Islam.