The State of Algeria by Malika Rebai Maamri

Author:Malika Rebai Maamri [Maamri, Malika Rebai]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Gender Studies, History, Middle East, General, Islamic Studies, Political Science, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
ISBN: 9780857739452
Google: Z9SLDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2015-10-12T03:33:22+00:00

CHAPTER 6

THE IMAZIGHEN'S QUEST FOR INCLUSION

The sense of ethnic belonging [is] an ethnic identification generated by a specific system of cultural production, cemented by a common language among the members of an ethnic group.1

Discussions of ‘nation’ are endless because the term has lent to different interpretations. Eric Hobsbawm identifies the two main meanings of ‘nation’ in modern times as a relation known as citizenship,2 in which the nation consists of collective sovereignty based in common political participation, and a relation known as ethnicity, in which the nation comprises all those of supposedly common language, history or broader cultural identity.

Whereas the concept of citizenship draws attention to principles of sameness such as equal rights and equal treatment for all, ethnicity emphasises differences between groups. While ethnicity is the key to uniting a group of people via the vehicle of culture and also to providing a way in which to distinguish one culture from the next, the link between ethnic yearnings and nationalism based on culture is most often antagonistic, especially when the culture of the dominant group is imposed on the subordinate ethnic culture. Indeed, if a society uses ethnie as the unifying variant of culture, then not sharing in the dominant ethnie means exclusion from society. According to the central hypothesis of Tajfel's and Turner's social identity theory, there are three mental processes involved in evaluating others as ‘us’ or ‘them’, that is ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group’: categorisation, social identification and social comparison.3 Once we have categorised ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group with others. Groups give us a sense of social identity – a sense of belonging to the social world. Individuals inevitably tend to intensify their connections to the respective identity group that they perceive can ensure their safety. As a result, competing groups may increasingly come to view one another as obstacles to a desired stability and threats to an object of value or as impediments to a particular national goal.

In order to increase our self-image we tend to elevate the status of the group to which we belong. This may result in discriminating and holding prejudiced views against the group to which we do not belong. This social categorisation is one explanation for this ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality, which leads to in-groups and out-groups and hence to competing identities. Rivalry between groups constitutes a threat to society. This is where it becomes necessary to examine the notion of securitisation.

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