Algeria and France: beyond the Franco-Algerian lens

This chapter challenges the oft-repeated idea that Franco-Algerian relations were “exceptional” both during the period of colonial rule and after independence. Although Algeria held a distinct place within the French empire (considered three départements of France and with a large settler population), there were many connections and parallels between Algeria and other parts of the French empire – in terms of people, colonial ideas and policies, the experiences and activism of colonised peoples and intertwined chains of events. In the post-independence period, a confrontational rhetoric between the two countries has masked pragmatic collaboration. Franco-Algerian “memory wars” are often more Franco-French and Algero-Algerian than they initially seem. Moreover, rather than being locked in a suffocating embrace, Franco-Algerian relations have always existed and functioned in broader global contexts.