Synopses & Reviews
Porters sensitive, learned, and accessible account is highly recommended for anyone wishing to acquire a deeper knowledge of the history of modern Algeria, as well as of the range of anarchist approaches, in both France and Algeria, to the pathways of Algerian politics before and since independence.” Mohammed Bamyeh, author of
Anarchy as Order: The History and Future of Civic HumanityEyes to the South makes a significant and valuable contribution to a small but growing literature analyzing the complex and problematic engagement of anarchists with decolonization in general, and Algeria in particular.” ?David Berry, author of A History of the French Anarchist Movement, 1917 to 1945 makes a significant and valuable contribution to a small but growing literature analyzing the complex and problematic engagement of anarchists with decolonization in general, and Algeria in particular.” David Berry, author of A History of the French Anarchist Movement, 1917 to 1945
Eyes to the South explores important issues from the last six tumultuous decades of Algerian history, including French colonial rule, nationalist revolution, experiments in workers self-management, the rise of radical Islamist politics, an insurgent revival of traditional decentralist resistance and political structures, conflicts over cultural identity, women's emancipation, and major blowback” on the ex-colonial power itself. David Porter's nuanced examination of these issues helps to clarify Algerias current political, economic, and social conditions, and resonates with continuing conflicts and change in Africa and the Middle East more generally. At the same time, Eyes to the South describes and analyzes the observers themselvesthe various components of the French anarchist movementand helps to clarify and enrich the discussion of issues such as national liberation, violence, revolution, the role of religion, liberal democracy, worker self-management, and collaboration with statists in the broader anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements.
Synopsis
A comparative study of the porous intellectual and political borders between a colonial power and the colonized.
Synopsis
Eyes to the South studies the currents of the Algerian revolution alongside the development of French anarchist thought from the 1950s to the present. The book presents a fluid mosaic of actions, writings, and theoretical positions as it follows the shifting contexts of Algerian politics and society and the evolving consciousness and organizing of French anarchists in all their diversity. The result is an engaging and fresh approach to both transnational politics and anarchist ideas.
David Porter recently retired as professor of politics at State University of New York and is editor of Vision on Fire: Emma Goldman on the Spanish Revolution.
About the Author
David Porter, a professor emeritus at SUNY/Empire State College, taught politics and history, including courses on modern Algeria. David is the editor of Vision on Fire: Emma Goldman on the Spanish Revolution and an analyst of the recent leaderless revolutions” of the Middle East and North Africa.