Suchergebnisse

The state of res on nation-building in the Maghreb is described. The aim is to discover the structural (ie, SH) foundations of nation-building within a relatively uniform regional context (the 3 former French colonies of the Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia). In order to understand Maghrebian society & its particular history, we must consider the Maghreb against its natural background, the Mediterranean world. 2 widely accepted interpretations of this phenomenon exist: (a) that of the classical orientalists, united at the time when the colonial system was at its zenith; & (b) that of the anti-colonialist Marxist, uniting towards the end of the colonial era. Most representative of the orientalists is E. F. Gautier, who states that the marked disparity in the twin processes of nation-building to the north & south of the Mediterranean occurred from the 11th cent onwards because the Arab nomads had put down the first attempt on the part of settled Berber peasant communities to set up an autochtonous nat'l State based on an alliance between peasantry & townsfolk. The Marxists hold that the evolution of Maghrebian society towards modern nationhood was to a very large extent conditioned by the balance of pol'al forces within the Mediterranean zone. They also resusitated the notion of an Asian form of production. The contribution of French ethnologists & English speaking anthrop'ts is also discussed. It is pointed out that it is in patrilineage that we meet with the basic pol'al unit of all the peasant communities of the Maghreb. It is shown that in all 3 countries, it was the union of forces between the peasants & the Ur elites that made the movement for nat'l liberation irreversible. Independence & the reactivation of the segmentary structures is discussed, & it is demonstrated why on the eve of colonization, the 3 countries were not in the same situation as far as nation-building was concerned. E. Weiman.