Early origins of Islamic activism in Algeria: The case of Khaled in Post-World War I Algiers

Abstract

This article examines a surge of Islamic activism in French-occupied Algeria in the wake of World War I by focusing closely on the political career of a leading Islamic activist, Khaled Abd Al Qadir. Scholars have debated Khaled's credentials as an early ‘Algerian’ nationalist but have taken for granted his Islamic identity as a natural by-product of a suppressed native culture and an Islamic revival in the wider Middle East. While these background conditions were important, they do not explain some of the specific patterns associated with Khaled's Islamic activism. Using insights from social movement theory, this article focuses especially on the role of French government-sponsored reforms in 1919 in fostering the surge of Islamic activism in Algeria. The article concludes by challenging ideas about the origins of Islamic activism in Algeria and by highlighting the connection between democratisation and the rise of religious politics in contemporary Algeria and other regimes around the world.

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