The Algerian Civil War during the 1990s is considered to be one of the violent wars in the Arab world. For one decade, isolated from the international community, the country and its civilians suffered from extremism, radicalism, torture, and assassinations. Today, it is arguable that the memory of the Algerian Civil War played a pivotal role in producing the legitimacy of the political system and framing the citizens’ perceptions of the postwar regime before the current manifestations. Nevertheless, no field research has explored how that memory is represented and recalled by the people. Through analyzing the public narrative, surveying and examining the public platforms, and conversations dealing with the past civil war in Algeria, this article seeks to demonstrate how that violent past is remembered in the public arena, the emotions that have been accumulated from such experience and the lessons that have been learned by the people. In doing so, we use many examples from the Algerian manifestations after 22 February 2019, or what is called “the Algerian Hirak.”
The political and academic debate over reconciliation in Algeria is inconclusive. Although it faced international criticism, the post-war regime succeeded in enhancing peace and containing the cycle of violence. The national reconciliation process followed a highly controversial peace agreement designed by the Intelligence and Security Department. Then, it was conducted and directed after 1999 by an elected President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, with the support of a heterogeneous alliance of reconciliation entrepreneurs. This study highlights the main components of the official perspective: how the reconciliation was perceived and concretized, its mechanisms and strategies, and main conceptualizations. It illuminates the official narrative based on analyzing materials, including the president’s statements, interviews, and newspaper archives.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.