Uncivil War: Intellectuals and Identity Politics during the Decolonization of Algeria

by James D. Le Sueur, Pierre Bourdieu (Foreword)

Uncivil War is a provocative study of the intellectuals who confronted the loss of France’s most prized overseas possession: colonial Algeria. Tracing the intellectual history of one of the most violent and pivotal wars of European decolonization, James D. Le Sueur illustrates how key figures such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Germaine Tillion, Jacques Soustelle, Raymond Aron, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Albert Memmi, Frantz Fanon, Mouloud Feraoun, Jean Amrouche, and Pierre Bourdieu agonized over the “Algerian question.” As Le Sueur argues, these individuals and others forged new notions of the nation and nationalism, giving rise to a politics of identity that continues to influence debate around the world. This edition features an important new chapter on the intellectual responses to the recent torture debates in France, the civil war in Algeria, and terrorism since September 11.

Genres: History, Algeria, France, Nonfiction, War, Politics

430 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2001

About the author

James D. Le Sueur is Associate Professor of History at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and has been a Senior Associate Member of the Middle East Centre at St Antony’s College, Oxford.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure why in its description it is referred to as a 'provocative' study . . . I didn't see anything particularly provocative about it.

The five stars owe to the level of scholarship displayed in this thing. It is not a general history of the war, but a surprisingly interesting and readable account of French intellectuals' involvement and reaction to the war - from Soustelle and Tillion to Sartre and Fanon, from Camus (who is the saddest and most fascinating of them all to follow through the war) and Jean Daniel to Aron and Levi-Strauss, everyone had something to say about the conflict. And even when someone didn't have anything to say, such as Camus, others had plenty to say about that. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the book is how vital a role French intellectuals played in shaping public opinion on the war; as the author comments, no one takes their intellectuals more seriously than the French, and one might say that the US could perhaps try and learn something from that example (although, with Sarkozy at the helm, the exact opposite seems to be taking shape).

I would throw this down as a nice alternative to reading, say, A SAVAGE WAR OF PEACE. Le Sueur will give you a really good sense of what went on in Algeria, and from a somewhat more sophisticated vantage point than Horne provides.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The extent to which the topics relevant to today's politics were not only in play but fully developed in France's and Algeria's intellectual community during the decolonization struggle is not surprising. What is surprising is how little advancement in thinking has been made in them since.