Berber Government: The Kabyle Polity in Pre-colonial Algeria

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“The Berber identity movement in North Africa was pioneered by the Kabyles of Algeria. But a preoccupation with identity and language has obscured the fact that Kabyle dissidence has been rooted in democratic aspirations inspired by the political traditions of Kabylia itself, a Berber-speaking region in the north of Algeria. The political organisation of pre-colonial Kabylia, from which these traditions originate, was well-described by nineteenth-century French ethnographers. But their inability to explain it led to a trend amongst later theorists of Berber society, such as Ernest Gellner and Pierre Bourdieu, to dismiss Kabylia's political institutions, notably the jema'a (assembly or council), and to reduce Berber politics to a function of social structure and shared religion. In Berber Government, Hugh Roberts, a renowned expert on North Africa, uncovers and explores the remarkable logics of Kabyle political organisation. Combining political anthropology and political and social history in an interdisciplinary analysis, Roberts challenges the excessive emphasis on kinship and religion in the study of the Maghreb. He instead explores the political structures and processes of the Kabyles, examining the organisation of the Kabyle polity and its intricate frameworks of law, political representation and self-government. Additionally, in a pioneering account of Kabylia's relations with the Ottoman Regency, he provides the first in-depth historical explanation of the genesis of the Kabyle polity as this existed at the moment of the French conquest of the region in 1857. In thus grounding the explanation of Kabyle political organisation in a resolutely historical analysis spanning the Ottoman era, Berber Government offers a radical alternative to previous paradigms and lays the foundation of new way of understanding the complex place and role of the Kabyles in Algerian political life from the pre-colonial era to the present day.” Cover Copyright Dedication Contents Preface A Note on Transliteration List of Illustrations List of Maps List of Tables 1 Considering Kabylia Greater Kabylia The Kabyles and the other Algerian Berbers Pre-colonial kabylia and the academy: I The unresolved controversy and its revival Pre-colonial Kabylia and the academy: II. Towards a clarification of the debate The two perspectives 2 Economy and Forms of Settlement Leqbayel and Igawawen The economy of Kabylia The ‘arsh in Kabylia Thaddarth and tūfīq The Igawawen thaddarth 3 Kabyle Law The qawānīn Qānūn, ‘urf and Sharī‘a The code of honour and the code of law Antagonism in society 4
The Kabyle Polity The thijemmua‘a of Kabylia The temman The sfūf The sfūf and the ‘arsh The saff systems The vindication of Masqueray 5 Pre-colonial Kabylia and the Regency: Religion and Political Development, 1509–1639 Introduction Ibn Khaldun and the Kabyles The Ottoman revolution The Ottoman Regency and the nature of Kabyle opposition The second coming of maraboutism in Kabylia 6 Rise and Fall of the Lords of Koukou The ‘kingdom’ of Koukou: the enigma The Ath l-Qadi and the foundation of Koukou Vassals and the temptation of disloyalty Ottoman policy between the Kabyles and the Ojaq Ottoman policy and the end of Koukou Koukou defined 7 The Reconstitution of Greater Kabylia after 1640 The origins of an originality The Igawawen and the exheredation of the Kabyle woman The imrabdhen and the reordering of Kabylia The Iboukhtouchen succesion and the Ottoman penetration of Kabylia The Ottoman dispensation and the supersession of the Iboukhtouchen The assemblies of the Igawawen and their purposes 8 Transcending Kabylia: The Constitutional Tradition and the Exceptional Tradition Appendix Glossary Bibliography