Read the full text in French (pdf).

Abstract

For some 30 years, the Berber movement has been gaining ground in Maghreb. It has moved beyond the national framework to become both a trans-national and an international phenomenon in the whole of North Africa. Its radicalisation over the past few years, particularly in Algeria, goes hand in hand with efforts of the powers that be to recover the situation –for example in Morocco– and the organising of the Berber diaspora, in France in particular. The case of Kabylie, which is on the verge of breaking with the Algerian central state and has discovered new cohesion and strength in traditional institutions (the archs), does not make it impossible to picture, in the long run, an upheaval of the status quo within Maghreb, in which 20 million Berbers reside. The Berber issue puts several crucial choices in front of the North African states –i.e. identity, culture, and democratic legitimacy– on which the future of the region depends.

Maxime Ait Kaki, who holds a PhD. in Political Science, is a journalist.
(This article is published in French only. Original title: 'Les Etats du Maghreb face aux revendications berbères'.)