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Algeria
The Arabization Movement
The arabization of society was largely a reaction to elite culture
and colonial domination and dates back to the revolutionary period
when it served as a unifying factor against French colonial forces.
The Arabic and Islamic tradition of the Algerian nation has been
preserved through constitutional provisions recognizing its fundamental
role in developing Algerian political character and national legislation
encoding its existence in Algerian daily life--in courts and in
schools, on street signs, and in workplaces. Arabization is seen
as a means of national unity and has been used by the national
government as a tool for ensuring national sovereignty.
Under Boumediene, arabization took the form of a national language
requirement on street signs and shop signs, despite the fact that
60 percent of the population could not read Arabic. Calls have
been made to substitute English for French as the second national
language, eliminate coeducational schooling, and effect the arabization
of medical and technological schools. Algeria remains caught between
strident demands to eliminate any legacy from its colonial past
and the more pragmatic concerns of the costs of rapid arabization.
Emotional loyalties and practical realities have made arabization
a controversial issue that has consistently posed a challenge
to the government. In December 1990, a law was passed that would
effect complete arabization of secondary school and higher education
by 1997. In early July 1993, the most recent legislation proposing
a national timetable for imposing Arabic as the only legal language
in government and politics was again delayed as a result of official
concerns about the existence of the necessary preconditions for
sensible arabization. The law was to require that Arabic be the
language of official communication--including with foreign nations,
on television, and in any other official capacities--and would
impose substantial fines for violations.
Meanwhile the pressure for arabization has brought resistance
from Berber elements in the population. Different Berber groups,
such as the Kabyles, the Chaouia, the Tuareg, and the Mzab, each
speak a different dialect. The Kabyles, who are the most numerous,
have succeeded, for example, in instituting the study of Kabyle,
or Zouaouah, their Berber language, at the University of Tizi
Ouzou, in the center of the Kabylie region. Arabization of education
and the government bureaucracy has been an emotional and dominant
issue in Berber political participation. Young Kabyle students
were particularly vocal in the 1980s about the advantages of French
over Arabic.
The Arabization of Algerian society would expedite the inevitable
break with France. The French government has consistently maintained
a tolerant position, arguing that arabization is an Algerian "internal
affair"; yet it seems certain that such sweeping changes could
endanger cultural, financial, and political cooperation between
the two countries. Despite both Algerian and French statements
concerning the wish to break free of the legacy of the colonial
past, both nations have benefited from the preferential relationship
they have shared and both have hesitated to sever those ties.
The language question will undoubtedly remain a persistent and
emotional issue far into the future.
Data as of December 1993
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