The Arab Spring exception: Algeria's political ambiguities and citizenship rights

The main contention of this paper is that the construction of citizenry in post-colonial Algeria is far from being a universal enfranchisement. Indeed, despite a frank declaration in favour of a modernist state- and nation-building after national independence in 1962, the elites in power have shown clear hesitations at cutting ties with the patriarchal order of traditional society, both in the public arena of an open unconditional democracy, and the private arena of the family structure, where gender roles have been approached along a mythical interpretation of scriptural Islamic laws marred with traditionalist mores regarding gender equality. The end result is the perpetuation of an ambiguous authoritarian political system whereby citizenship rights and the practice of open democracy are far from being universal. Rather, they are submitted to a highly clientelist system where citizenship becomes a barter good in exchange of a well-calculated social mobility where various social actors are erected as potential dangers for each other, and therefore in need of State patrimony (Chaliand, G. 1964. L'Algérie est-elle socialiste. Paris: Maspero; Harbi, M. 1980. Le FLN: Mirage et réalité: des origines a la prise du pouvoir (1945–1962). Paris: Editions Jeune Afrique). This essay attempts to demonstrate through the personnel status law, The Family Code published in 1984 and revised in 2005, that the construction of a full-fledged citizenry for both genders in Algeria has stumbled against the idiosyncratic interpretations of Shari a law by the very decision-makers who have otherwise opted for a modernist social project. The Algerian case is finally proposed as being a lesson in the art of political ambiguity in the context of the Arab Spring, and the difficulties therein at establishing democracy in the Arab region.