The Re-Invention of Populism: Islamist Responses to Capitalist Development in the Contemporary Maghreb

Abstract

Like many other parts of the erstwhile Third World, the Maghreb region of northwest Africa has lived under a general socioeconomic and political crisis

Political Economy and the Aid Industry in Asia

“…As these economies were opened to global markets, private business interests were established and consolidated under the umbrella of the state, often embracing the families of political power-holders and senior bureaucrat (see Colas, 2004;King, 2007).…”

Islamic Politics in Southeast Asia: A Critical Reassessment

“…First, they signal the possibility of understanding radical expressions of Islamic politics as representing a particular kind of sociologically and historically specific populist response to the tensions and contradictions of the march of global market capitalism and the way that these can affect domestic processes of social transformations. Writing on the Maghreb, for example, Colas (2004) treats Islamic politics as a populist response to the problems associated with the contradictions of capitalist industrialisation, but more specifically in the phase of neo-liberal economic globalisation. In doing so, he notes how “class-based political movements…[have]…with a few notable exceptions…[in the region]…fared less well…than rival organisations built around broader, and vague, conceptions of the ‘the people” (Colas 2004: 233).…”

“…Writing on the Maghreb, for example, Colas (2004) treats Islamic politics as a populist response to the problems associated with the contradictions of capitalist industrialisation, but more specifically in the phase of neo-liberal economic globalisation. In doing so, he notes how “class-based political movements…[have]…with a few notable exceptions…[in the region]…fared less well…than rival organisations built around broader, and vague, conceptions of the ‘the people” (Colas 2004: 233). The latter are described as being cross-class in nature and defined against often vague domestic and external opponents.…”

“…I would add, however, that the literature on Islam and politics in Southeast Asia has been equally bereft of potentially important political economy considerationsespecially the sort that has proven very useful for analysis of North Africa and the Middle East since the 1980s (Ayubi 1995;Colas 2004;Halliday 2004;Lubeck 1998;Skocpol 1982). Whilst a voluminous literature exists, not surprisingly on Indonesia (Barton 2004;Bush 2008;Fealy 2004;Hefner 2000;Liddle 1996; amongst others) and Malaysia (Mutalib 1990;Nagata 1984;Othman 2003;Roff 1988;amongst others), there is only scant evidence of political economy concerns depicted in the body of work at our disposal (Kessler 1978, being one major exception).…”

Indonesian Political Islam: Capitalist Development and the Legacies of the Cold War

“…In Algeria, the economically-liberalising Chedli Benjedid government (1979)(1980)(1981)(1982)(1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992) gave rise to a 'political-financial mafia' and 'a new capitalist nomenklatura' (Colas 2004: 237). On the other side of the coin, 'a highly alienated generation of Algerians epitomised in the figure of the hittiste'a term describing 'young urban men who prop up walls' while 'listlessly watching life passing them by' (Colas 2004: 237-238) -became increasingly prevalent amidst declining general living conditions and worsening unemployment.…”