Berberism
Berberism is a Berber ethnonationalist movement that started in Kabylia in Algeria during the French colonial era with the Kabyle myth, largely driven by colonial capitalism and France's divide and conquer policy. The Berberist movement originally manifested itself as anti-Arab racism, Islamophobia, and Francophilia, that was sanctioned and sponsored by French colonial authorities. The movement later spread to other Berber communities in the Maghreb region of North Africa and was facilitated by colonial policies such as the Berber Dahir in Morocco. The Berberist movement in Algeria and Morocco is in opposition to cultural Arabization, pan-Arabism, and Islamism. Some Berberist movements, particularly those in the diaspora such as MAK, may pursue separatist agendas aimed at secession from Maghrebi states.
Algeria
Historical and modern construction of ethnic divides
The origins of Berberism go back to the triumph of colonial capitalism in Kabylia during the French colonization of Algeria. Its roots date back to the "Berber policy" of the French colonial empire, designed to "pacify" Kabylia. French colonialists invented several ideologies to divide and rule the Algerian population, such as the Kabyle myth, a racist colonial trope which asserted that the Kabyle people were more predisposed than Arabs to assimilate into "French civilization." Yves Lacoste explained that "turning the Arabs into invaders was one way of legitimizing the French presence". The Berbers were elevated above the Arabs through the narrative that Berber ancestral heritage stemmed from Europe. Consequently, Arabs were associated with backwardness, which the Berbers profited from, as it granted them a higher status. Prior to the creation of the ideology in the 1840s, Kabyles throughout the centuries were actively and fully engaged in the Arab culture of Algeria, ever since the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb in the 7th century and the ensuing Arab migrations to the Maghreb.During the period of French colonization, Arabic and Berber were declared foreign languages in Algeria with the aim to restructure Algerian identity into a more Western one. This was done in attempts to assert French dominance. The Berbers were targeted with heavy French schooling, placing them at the centre of this transformation. The strongest hold France had to advance this platform was the Berber region of Kabyle, where they espoused the Kabyle myth.
Despite French attempts at a Divide and Rule strategy in Algeria, Berbers were on the forefront of the Independence movement with several key leaders of National Liberation Front, including Hocine Aït Ahmed, Abane Ramdane, and Krim Belkacem. Furthermore, Aurès and Kabylia were amongst the principal footholds of FLN due to their geographical remoteness and widespread local support for independence. In fact, the Soummam conference, often cited as the founding act of the Algerian state, took place in Kabylia. Due to Berber regions serving as hotbeds for FLN guerillas, these regions were labelled major targets in French counter-insurgency operations. These counter-insurgency operations resulted in the devastation of agricultural lands, looting, destruction of villages, population displacement, the creation of forbidden zones, etc.
Following Algerian Independence, Kabyle leaders opposed the central leadership over Arabist policies and the single-party system. These Kabyle leaders held popular backing in Kabylia and Algiers. Two years of armed conflict in Kabylia followed, leaving more than 400 dead and most FLN leaders from Kabylia exiled or executed.
Currently, the construction of the opposing ideologies is argued to be political and social in nature rather than ethnic. The dynamics were shifted when the Berber movement entered to make demands in the political sphere. Many of these demands arose from the region of Kabyle in Algeria. Kabylian Berbers constitute two-thirds of the Berber population and have been the strongest advocates for the Berber movement. The second-largest group are the Chaoui Berbers who reside in the Aures mountains. While the elite sphere consisted of the Kabyle population, the Chaoui played an important role due to their military influence. On the whole, the Berberophones make up roughly 25% of the Algerian population, constituting seven to eight million people. In 2002, Tamazight was declared a national language in Algeria alongside Arabic to accommodate this large percentage of the population. In 2016 it was declared to be an official language, and efforts are underway to create a Standard variation of the Algerian Berber dialects.
1940 to 1950 Berberist crisis
The developments of 1940 to 1950 constituted a period of social unrest in Algerian politics which would set the framework for the coming years. The emergence of the Algerian Arabism-Islamism Nationalist framework meant to combat colonialism was accompanied by the emergence of Berberism, to combat this Arabism-Islamism. The Berbers demanded for the redefinition of the society they were historically a part of : they wanted an 'Algerian Algeria' to represent all the ethnic and cultural minorities of the nation. The Movement for the Triumph of Democratic Liberties continued to impose the Arabism-Islamism framework and were denounced as anti-democratic by Berber activists.The MTLD refused to acknowledge these minorities because it would have hindered their advancement in the provincial elections. This led to the beginning of open conflict between Berber partisans and "Arab unity" advocates: the outbreak of the Berber crisis. At this stage, the Algerian People's Party and MTLD, both headquartered in Paris, had merged to advance the Berber platform. They wanted to replace the single-party state system with democracy. This 'Algerian Algeria' would include the contributions, histories and cultures of all the ethnic populations. The platform as stated by Rachid Ali revolved around the fact that the Berbers should break the status quo that they have no place in society, as Algeria does not belong to the Arab world but was instead a nation for all its citizens. With the adoption of this platform, the Berber activists were seen as a threat to unity and independence by the Arabists-Islamists, on the account that "the Berbers wished to impose the Western agenda on Algeria".
The Berberist crisis of 1949 led to the formation of the Berber Cultural Movement. Its agenda was to challenge Arabism and Islamism, and oppose Arabization because of its "de-frenchifying" objectives and its alleged opposition to democratic and secular ideals. Berberists called for a Western-style socio-political system with the French language and French culture as its vectors. It has been described as acculturationist and mimicking of Western/French culture which it seeks to replace Arab nationalism and Islamism with.
Effects of 1962 constitution and Arabization
The 1962 Constitution declared that Islam was the state religion and Arabic was the national language. These two aspects of identity became mutually exclusive to be Algerian. In turn, linguistic and cultural diversity was interpreted as a threat to national unity. Rapid Arabization measures were implemented after independence in 1962 which sought to spread the Arabic language throughout the country. This was largely in an attempt to reclaim and reconstruct the Algerian identity which was lost during French colonial rule.The rise in Arabic speakers and education institutions was accompanied by the decline in the Berber speakers. Linguistic ability was a large factor in Berber identification meaning its decline was a threat to the survival of the Berber identity. The Berber narrative stated that the rapid Arab-Islamic conquest was rising at the expense of the Berber identity. The Berber struggle was seen as an uphill battle. Furthermore, these Arabization measures stigmatized the Berber speakers vis-à-vis the Arabic speakers through the creation of more rigid divides between the communities. Political and social power was seen to lie with the Arabs who imposed their will on the Berber minority.