The Future Is Feminist: Women and Social Change in Interwar Algeria

by Sara Rahnama

The Future Is Feminist by Sara Rahnama offers a closer look at a pivotal moment in Algerian history when Algerians looked to feminism as a path out of the stifling realities of French colonial rule. Algerian people focused outward to developments in the Middle East, looking critically at their own society and with new eyes to Islamic tradition. In doing so, they reordered the world on their own terms―pushing back against French colonial claims about Islam's inherent misogyny. Rahnama describes how Algerians took inspiration from Middle Eastern developments in women's rights. Empowered by the Muslim reform movement sweeping the region, they read Islamic knowledge with new eyes, even calling Muhammad "the first Arab feminist." They compared the blossoming women's rights movements across the Middle East and this history of Islam's feminist potential to the stifled position of Algerian women, who suffered from limited access to education and respectable work. Local dynamics also shaped these discussions, including the recent entry of thousands of Algerian women into the workforce as domestic workers in European settler homes. While Algerian people disagreed about whether Algeria's future should be colonial or independent, they agreed that women's advancement would offer a path forward for Muslim society toward a more prosperous future. Through its use of Arabic-language sources alongside French ones, The Future Is Feminist moves beyond Algeria's colonial relationship to France to illuminate its relationship to the Middle East.

Genres: Feminism

252 pages, Hardcover

Published December 15, 2023

Reviews

[Zainab Bint Younus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I dislike the title bc I really don't think it actually reflects the book's contents well, if at all.

The book itself was fascinating - an examination of imperial feminism used as a colonial tool in Algeria (e.g. forced unveilings) while also examining intra-Muslim-Algerian discussions on women's rights and roles in their changing society.
The role of culturally conservative Sufis in reinforcing and trying to maintain extremely misogynistic practices in the name of Islam (keeping women uneducated, withholding inheritance from women) vs "reformists" who sought change based on the Qur’an and Sunnah to uphold women's rights, alongside anti-imperialism, made it clear that most Muslims don't realize the complexities of our own histories.

Most fascinating to me was picking up on elements of Muslim discourse that literally have not changed over 100~ years around women's dress and fears about female education/ autonomy while ignoring Muslim male public indiscretions.

It was also fascinating to trace back phrases of Muslim discourse such as "Islam is feminist/ Prophet Muhammad was the first feminist" to a time loooong before social media - and uttered by Muslim men.

There's a lot to learn from this book in terms of understanding elements of Muslim history vis a vis colonization and feminism as a tool of colonization, as well as intra-Muslim debates and activism around women's rights. Highly recommend although I do wish there was a little more to connect the discussions of the past with Algeria's present.

[Armaan Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book offers a compelling exploration of feminist thought and social change in interwar Algeria. I found Rahnama’s focus on the debates and discourses surrounding women’s status and feminist possibilities during this period particularly illuminating. Methodologically, Rahnama’s decision to anchor her analysis in newspapers, publications, speeches, and the associative life of Algerian civil society, rather than in colonial archives or retrospective readings shaped by the War of Independence, makes for an impactful contribution. The book is clearly organized, making a complex web of ideas and actors accessible without sacrificing nuance.

I share the view of other readers that the title can be somewhat misleading, as it doesn’t fully capture the scope or subtlety of Rahnama’s central arguments. Nonetheless, it is a rigorously researched and thought-provoking study that deepened my understanding of Algeria’s intellectual and socio-political life in the interwar years.