Women and Democracy in Algeria

Author(s): Dalila Djerbal and Louisa Ait Hamou

Source: Review of African Political Economy, No. 54, Surviving Democracy? (Jul., 1992), pp.
106-111
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4006173
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Review of African Political Economy No.54: 106-125
? ROAPE PublicationsLtd., 1992
ISSN 0305-6244; RIX #5310-13

Briefings
Women and Democracy in cations for the current debates about
democracy. Butof significancealsowithin
Algeria this largerdebateare the implicationsfor
Dalila Djerbaland LouisaAit Hamou womenof a politicalvictoryby Islamic
fundamentalists. Theauthorsexplorethe
Algeriaintroduceda multi-partysystem growth of the women's movementin
after widespreaduprisingsin 1988 and Algeria(in whichtheyhavebeenperson-
preceededto hold elections,first at the ally involved) in the context of the
localand then at the nationallevel. The intertwinedprocessesof democratisation
explosionofaccumulated tensionsin 1988 and the rise of fundamentalism.They
was generatedby the shortcomings of the acknowledgethat womenare themselves
nation'sindustrialisation projectnad the dividedalong 'traditionalist'and 'mod-
lack of sufficientopportunitiesfor the ernist' lines, but argue that it is only
post-revolutiongeneration.Seventyfive through increaseddemocratisationthat
percentof thepopulationwasless than20 fuller participationby womenin society
years of age;forty per cent were unem- can beachieved.
ployed.The modelof economicdevelop-
mentusedin Algeria,focussingon heavy Todaya wind of democracyis blowing
industrialisation,had led to a vast rural over many of those third world coun-
exodus. Although some new jobs were tries that formerly experienced single
created, productivity was slowed by party systems. How can we under-
bureacraticmanagementand discontent stand this new democratic trend and
swelled.Theunderprivileged classesulti- what are its implications for women?
mately gave vent to their frustration, It is perhaps not accidentalthat a new
some turning to Islam as a final resort type of discoursegeared towards indi-
against what they perceivedto be the vidual rights and liberalismis spread-
corruptionand inhumanityof thesystem. ing throughthe continentof Africaat a
time of economic crisis. The argument
Oneof themajor actorsin the multi-party can be put that it is partlyattributedto
arena was the Islamic SalvationFront the pressure of the IMFfor prescribed
(FIS)which,ironically,was committedto political and economic forms and to
abolishingthe democraticconstitution. this extent constitutes a new form of
TheFISgainedthelargestnumberof seats imperialism.Butregardlessof whether
in thelocalelectionsandcameintocontrol pressures are internal or external, the
in a numberof municipalities. Butwhenit significance of democratic discourse
becameevidentafterthefirst stageof the and its impact on political systems
nationalelectionsin late1991thattheFIS must be acknowledged. The case of
would win at that level as well, the Algeria, where the evolution toward
militaryintervenedto preventthe second multi-partyism was diverted by the
roundof voting. implications of a possible victory in
nationalelectionsby the IslamicFront,
Algeria'sexperiencehas importantimpli- is one of particular interest. It is

importantto explore how the element
of Islamicfundamentalismfits into the
broader Algerian experience, both as
regardspressureto democratiseand as
regardsthe position of women.
Algeria became a symbol of liberation
for many other African countries by
virtue of its seven years of anti-
colonial war. But the nation now finds
itself at a hiatus. The emergence of
privileged classes and the lack of
opportunitiesalienatedthe young, and
absence of other strong alternatives
resulted in many turning to the FIS.
Since the street riots of October 1988
and the terrible repression which fol-
lowed where hundreds of young peo-
ple died, many changes have occurred:
multi-partyism has been instituted,
freedom of expression granted and a
new constitutionvoted in. The people -
many women among them - have
begun to organise themselves into
independent unions and associations.
However, after nearly two years of
...
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Briefing: Womenand Democracyin Algeria 107
euphoria, democracy is now jeopard-
ised. National elections were inter-
rupted and a state of emergencycalled.
There is latent violence in the society,
fear and repression and an over-
whelming feeling of insecurity in the
civilian population. All this is magni-
fied by a disastrous economic situa-
tion. Yet at the same time some public
debate continues. The voice of the
underprivileged, particularly of the
youth and of women, continues to be
raised, though perhaps not always in
consensus. But forms of oppression
are at least now named and it is no
longer possible, for example, to refer
to the choice of the citizens or to
human rights without denouncing the
patriarchal structure which sustains
relationships between people and
which relegates women to an inferior
status. Women continue to be re-
garded by some as responsible for all
'evils' in society, and by others as the
vanguard of the public life against a
corrupt power; but whichever, it can-
not be denied that women are at the
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z
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108 ReviewofAfricanPoliticalEconomy

centre of the struggle for citizenship Islamist movement which has devel-
which is the essential condition of oped in Algeria over the past two
democracy. decades and which uses women in its
religious and political discourse to
We wish to explore the implicationsof foster a traditionalistproject.Thus the
the 1988 uprisings and subsequent Muslim fundamentalists have pre-
events for women in Algeria. For a scribeduse of the Chariaa(Islamiclaw)
better understandingof this issue, we to confine women within the closed
need to explain how Algerian women space of home and patriarchalfamily.
have been used in the struggle be- In this sense women have become a
tween traditionalism and modernity focal point in Algerian politics in the
and to review the formand concernsof struggle between traditionalism and
their movement. modernity.

The issue of women has always been a Thecontradictorypressureson women

sensitive one. It was a daring move for are expressed in their participationin
women to actuallytake partin the war the wage economy. In the period
of liberation, since it was never re- immediatelyafterindependencesocial
garded as consistent with their role in differentiationwithin the countrywas
society that they should be freedom not extensively marked and the FLN
fighters.Yet some women managed to (National LiberationFront) could le-
impose themselves, confronting the gitimatelyclaimto be the expressionof
opposition of their families and the communal solidarity. Apart from a
reserved response of the Moujahiddine few circles on the left, the Algerian
(male freedom fighters).Their partici- society was acquiescent,still subjectto
pation was eventually accepted so far the power relations within clans and
as it served the cause of independence. allegianceto the leader, who typically
But when the war was over, women was an elder and male. Social changes
were asked to go backto theirkitchens. soon began to accelerate, however.
Rural-urban migration and the ap-
Still, it must be acknowledged that in pearanceof shantytowns were accom-
the attempt to constructa new society panied by mutations in the roles
based on the principles of socialism, attributedto the various members of
women were granted equal rights and the family. Of particular importance
had access to education and work was the factthatwomen began to enter
following independence. And a wom- the marketeconomy, as seasonal agri-
en's organisation (UNFA) was offi- cultural workers or servants in Euro-
cially sanctioned by government. But pean households.
in spite of this the specificity of
women's issues was not recognised. The economic crisis which became
Indeed it was assumed that women evident in the late 1970s, exacerbated
would build the country alongside by poor management of national en-
men, while at the same time safe- terprises,the move towards an era of
guarding the family as sacrosanctand consumption instead of production,
fulfilling their responsibilities within and the corruptionof some members
it. of the ruling class, led to greater
disparity between the social classes,
This notion of women's role in the with increasing pauperization on the
family has also been focused on by the one hand and the emergence of a

Briefing:Women
categoryof the well to do on the other.
This gave way to the reinforcementof
traditionalistand Islamistvalues which
began to be articulatedas an alterna-
tive to the corruptand unjust exercise
of power. Traditionalismand patriar-
chy had of course always existed
within Algeria, but their force had
been muted by optimism in the possi-
bilities of modernist development.
Theirreemergencewas a consequence
of the limitationsof those possibilities,
but its impactwas to the disadvantage
of women. Yet at the same time,
preciselybecause of economic difficul-
ties increasinglybeing experiencedby
households,women were being drawn
into the labour force. Moreover, they
continued to assume primary respon-
sibility for housework, purchase of
basic necessitiesfor the household and
looking after the health and educa-
tional needs of their children. They
were being pushed outside the home
by subsistence requirements of the
family at the same time that tradition-
alist elements were pressuringthem to
remaininside.
Sinceindependence,women have ben-
efited from three factors: the global
industrialisation project, the expan-
sion of educational opportunities and
formal recognition of their rights un-
der the constitution. But their gains
have been limited. Compared to Mo-
rocco and Tunisia where twenty five
per cent of women have jobs, only
eight per cent were in wage employ-
ment it in Algeria in 1990. Most have
remained confined to unskilled posi-
tions - as house servants, room serv-
ants in the para-medicalprofession,or
seasonal workersin agriculture.How-
ever,as educationalopportunitieshave
increased, a small number of women
have gradually gained access to posi-
tions left vacant by men, largely in
medicine, academe and the legal sys-
in Algeria 109
andDemocracy
tem.
Apart from the small percentage of
female graduates who have gained
high level positions in the professions,
the majority of Algerian women re-
mained largely unskilled and pre-
dominantlyconfinedto the household.
Few have made claims for equality of
rights, being conscious of the difficul-
ties encountered by a 'free' woman
wishing to acquirerealeconomicinde-
pendence in a patriarchalsociety. For
some women, the family representsa
place of securityeven though objective
conditionsmight suggest the opposite.
Such women are caught in a trap
whereby the prevailing view is that
female employmentis not a rightbut a
reward to which one is entitled by the
acquisition of a diploma and yet for
destitute households employment is
not a right but a necessity. Their
predicament is all the greater in the
context of poor conditions of trans-
port, limited job opportunities, low
wages and sexual harassmentin pub-
lic places. Without academic creden-
tials and supportive social relations
and structures,women accede to men
a certain number of 'advantages' in
exchange for men assuming responsi-
bility for their materialwelfare.
Thus patriarchyis sustained and en-
trenched,even promoted by the pres-
ence of the tiny minority of women in
the public sphere of the professions.
Yet at the same time that presenceand
-theconstraintswhich are the daily lot
of women have served to destabilise
the function of patriarchy.The contra-
dictions which impinge on women
have been exacerbated. While men
have had to acceptthe fact thatwomen
are taking more space in active life,
there are those among them who
would wish to lock women into the
Chariaa.
 110 ReviewofAfricanPoliticalEconomy
These contradictionshave contributed
to the dynamism of the women's
movement. While it must be recog-
nised that the pressure of objective
facts and events have helped to alter
women's condition, it is women's
consciousnessas regardssexist legisla-
tion and a conservative mentality,
often reinforced by Islamist values,
that has constituted the basis of wom-
en's struggle. Women's interests have
been articulated, if not always af-
forded prominence, throughout the
period of independence. But it was
perhaps from the early 1980s that
groups of women, composed mainly
of university teachers, students and
working women began actively to
claim equalityof rights.Thoughfew in
number they have been visible by
virtue of being concentrated in the
largerurbanareas.
Debateconcerningwomen's rightshas
focused on the issue of a FamilyCode.
The Moudjahdate (women who partici-
pated in the war of liberation)strenu-
ously opposed each draft of the
proposed code set forward by the
government in the period after inde-
pendence, protesting particularly
against sections permitting polygamy
and repudiation.But their endeavour
ultimatelyproved unsuccessful.
In 1984 the state decided in favour of
the most backward tendencies in its
adoption of the Family Code. While
socialpracticewas evolving at the time
towards recognition of the status of
women as responsible and fully adult
in respect of rights associated with
marriageand divorce,the FamilyCode
put women firmlyunder the authority
of men. It denied women the right to
majority,since their 'matrimonialtu-
tor' was given the right to vote their
marriage (Art. 11 and 12). It specified
that a woman had to obey her husband
but made no mention of the need for
men to obey their wives (Art.39).
Polygamy was officially recognised
with men being allowed to marry up
to four wives (Art.8). Men were
permittedto repudiatetheir wives for
virtuallyany reason(Art. 48),whereas
women's right to divorce was ex-
tremely limited. Although only ad-
ministeringto familyrelationships,the
Code inevitably affected other aspects
of women's lives. Since they were
required to obey their husbands, for
example, they could be prohibited
from moving freely and in some cases
from getting a job.
There was a blatant contradictionbe-
tween the substance of the Code and
the increasingvisibility and participa-
tion of women in various spheres of
public economic activity in Algeria.
Through the Family Code, the state
delegated partof its authorityto males
to exerciseon behalf of the female half
of the population. The male citizen
had rights and duties in relationto the
state, while a woman had duties
defined by law towards her husband.
Everythingconcerninga woman'spub-
lic life was to be approved by her
husband or, if she had no husband,by
her father.Thus, the Algerian govern-
ment legalised the inequalitybetween
men and women that had existed in
the society, but which was in fact
beginning to break down. The Family
Code of 1984 gave succour to tradi-
tionalist elements, who strove to ad-
vance theirposition further,but it also
served to galvanise some women and
became the focus of their renewed
struggle.
It is not accidental that the growing
strength of the women's movement,
and of that tendency within it which
challenges the violence of traditional-
ist elementswhich would negatewom-
 Briefing:Womenand Democracyin Algeria 111

en's civil rights, has parallelled two tion of the Chariaa. The first project
other processes - the momentum to- refers to the citizen as producer of
ward democracy and growing Muslim legislation and meaning; the second
fundamentalism. Many and diverse calls on members of the ideal commu-
women's associations have begun to nity to be ruled by a sacred and
emerge over recent years: in the early therefore eternal law. And while the
1980s the modernist element of the first project places the individual -
women's struggle focused on the Fam- both men and women - on an equal
ily Code; since 1988, however, it has footing (at least formally), the second
moved on to a denunciation of all subordinates the individual to the
other forms of oppression, such as the sacred as interpreted and implemented
attempt to forbid mixed sex schools by those holding power, with women
and to prohibit girls from practising required to be submissive to male
sports. It has attacked verbal violence authority and men to the authority of
implicit in sexist speeches in the the state. These are the choices which
mosque and in the media. Yet its apply, and in terms of which women
essential demand was and remains the have positioned themselves.
recognition of full citizenship for
women. In the tumultuous present, Algeria has
been undergoing changes in the direc-
This said, divisions among women tion of economic liberalisation and
must also be acknowledged. The Octo- democracy, which have been halted,
ber 1988 riots unveiled, in the most or at least delayed, by traditionalist
exaggerated shapes, all the contradic- forces. The eventual outcome remains
tions, the perversions, the political and unclear, but it can be certain that it will
moral scandals within society - wealth have important implications for
grabbing, the existence of a category of women. While women are themselves
sub-citizens and the oppression of divided along various lines of class,
women. But they also opened the way educational achievement and religious
for the articulation of two totally conviction, it is the belief of the authors
different models of society - the 'Is- that their potential as full participants
lamic Republic' and 'Democracy'. in society is indicated only by the path
These parallel trends also divided of increased democratisation. Algeria
women into the feminist associations faces many difficulties, not least in the
which conceived of secular legislation economic sphere. But if the nation is to
or a re-writing of the Family Code, and avoid failure and disaster, it must set
the associations of Muslim fundamen- the basis for a real democracy that
talist women who call for implementa- entails full participation and effective
representation of all its citizens - both
within the family and in the polity. In
our view democracy not merely im-
plies freedom of expression and multi-
partyism, but the basis for establishing
principles of justice and equal rights. It
is not an end, but a process which must
be fought for and not taken for granted.
I(

4c ~ ~ ~ ~ 4 4 Dalila Djerbal is at SNED; Louisa Ait

Hamou is at the University of Algiers.