Marnia Lazreg

Open Letters to Muslim Women

Questioning the Veil

Torture and the Twilight of Empire looks at the intimate relationship between torture and colonial domination through a close examination of the French army's coercive tactics during the Algerian war from 1954 to 1962. By tracing the psychological, cultural, and political meanings of torture at the end of the French empire, Marnia Lazreg also sheds new light on the United States and its recourse to torture in Iraq and Afghanistan. This book is nothing less than an anatomy of torture--its methods, justifications, functions, and consequences. Drawing extensively from archives, confessions by former torturers, interviews with former soldiers, and war diaries, as well as writings by Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, and others, Lazreg argues that occupying nations justify their systematic use of torture as a regrettable but necessary means of saving Western civilization from those who challenge their rule. She shows how torture was central to guerre révolutionnaire, a French theory of modern warfare that called for total war against the subject population and which informed a pacification strategy founded on brutal psychological techniques borrowed from totalitarian movements. Lazreg seeks to understand torture's impact on the Algerian population--especially women--and also on the French troops who became their torturers. She explores the roles Christianity and Islam played in rationalizing these acts, and the ways in which torture became not only routine but even acceptable. Written by a preeminent historical sociologist, Torture and the Twilight of Empire holds particularly disturbing lessons for us today as we carry out the War on Terror.

From Algiers to Baghdad

Torture and the Twilight of Empire

This book seeks to determine the impact of colonialism on the evolution of social classes in Algeria from 1830 to the present, and to analyze the relationship between classes and political and economic development. Colonialism is viewed as a mode of production which resulted in the distortion of the indigenous socio-economic configurations and led to a particular form of political alliance culminating in the creation of the F.L.N. The evolution of the latter, the achievement of independence, and the establishment of a new power structure are examined in the light of class antagonisms. The Algerian form of socialism is interpreted as the outcome of the struggle between the petite bourgeoisie and the technocracy. The role of the Party, of the bureaucracy, and of ideology in a selected number of political measures indicated the existence of a specific pattern of social development which may not be grasped by the conventional tools of analysis. The major conclusion of the book is that societies such as Algeria present the observer with a reality for which a new mode of theorizing is needed.

A Study of Colonialism and Socio-political Change

The Emergence of Classes in Algeria

The Eloquence of Silence, first published in 1994, is considered a seminal text in the scholarship of women and North Africa. Marnia Lazreg makes a critical departure from more traditional studies of Algerian women, which usually examine female roles in relation to Islam – and instead takes an interdisciplinary approach, arguing that Algerian women's roles are shaped by a variety of structural and symbolic factors. These include colonial domination, demographic change, nationalism, family formation, the turn to culturalism, and the progressive shift to a capitalist economy. Grounded in archival research supplemented by interviews, and adopting a historico-critical method, the book identifies and examines the significance of an enduring feature of women’s journey: their instrumental use as tropes in struggles between groups of men opposed to one another during political crises. It demonstrates that despite being central to contentious political issues, women’s needs and aspirations were obscured just as their voices have traditionally been silenced. This new edition is thoroughly updated throughout to connect the original material to major political disruptions in the twenty-first century, such as the 9/11 attacks on New York and events around the "Arab Spring." The book foregrounds women’s determination to forge ahead, as well as their activism, which led to progress in fighting rape and other forms of violence made banal in the wake of the civil war (1992–2002). It also calls for a "decolonization" of concepts and theoretical systems used in accounting for women’s lived reality, and a questioning of facile postfeminist discourses in their manifold expressions.

Algerian Women in Question

The Eloquence of Silence

Miriam Lang

Adriana Varejão

María Lugones

Claudia de Lima Costa

Yuderkys Espinosa Miñoso

Alba Margarita Aquinaga Barragán

Alejandra Santillana

Angela Figueiredo

Dúnia Chávez

Julieta Paredes

Lélia González

Luiza Bairros

Marcela Cantuária

Maria da Graça Costa

María Elvira Díaz-Benítez

Ochy Curiel

Oyèrónké Oyěwùmi

Suely Messeder

Susana de Castro

Thula Rafaela Oliveira Pires

Rosana Paulino

A perspectiva decolonial é uma das mais atuais e contestadoras linhas do pensamento feminista contemporâneo, reivindicando a desconstrução de leituras hegemônicas sobre a mulher e o discurso de feministas oriundas dos países historicamente dominantes. Como reação ao processo de colonização – histórico e intelectual – o pensamento decolonial irrompe o cenário do feminismo com novas teorias e novos questionamentos sobre o problema do gênero, raça, classe e da própria epistemologia. Para apresentar um panorama do pensamento decolonial feminista, o livro reúne trabalhos de 22 autoras que dimensionam essa fundamental contribuição para o debate atual, apresentando pensadoras pioneiras, como a argentina María Lugones; a nigeriana Oyèrónké Oyěwùmí, que questiona os conceitos ocidentais de gênero a partir da experiência iorubá; a dominicana Yuderkys Espinosa Miñoso, que investiga a experiência histórica feminina na América Latina; a boliviana Julieta Paredes, que conjuga ideias e ativismo em defesa do feminismo comunitário; e as brasileiras Luiza Bairros, que enfatiza a expressão do feminismo negro, e Maria da Graça Costa, que aponta para novas propostas, como o ecofeminismo. As artes plásticas também são tomadas aqui com um discurso. E nesse campo, destacam-se os trabalhos decoloniais das brasilerias Adriana Varejão, Rosana Paulino e Marcela Cantuária. Na soma dessas contribuições emerge um repertório contestador, múltiplo e renovador que questiona, enriquece e mobiliza novas posturas, reflexões e ações do feminismo contemporâneo. "Categorias e questões consolidadas pela comunidade acadêmica feminista tornam-se arenas de disputa e invenção. Como construir um feminismo sem levar em conta as epistemologias originárias? Sem absorver as gramáticas das lutas e dos levantes emancipatórios que acompanham nossas histórias? Como podemos reconsiderar as fontes e conceitos do feminismo ocidental? Uma nova história, novas solidariedades, novos territórios epistêmicos impõem urgência em ser sonhados", aponta a organizadora Heloisa Buarque de Hollanda. As autoras reunidas são: Adriana Varejão, Alba Margarita Aguinaga Barragán, Alejandra Santillana, Angela Figueiredo, Claudia de Lima Costa, Dunia Mokrani Chávez, Julieta Paredes, Lélia Gonzalez, Luiza Bairros, Marcela Cantuária, Maria da Graça Costa, María Elvira Díaz-Benítez, María Lugones, Marnia Lazreg, Miriam Lang, Ochy Curiel, Oyèrónké Oyěwùmí, Rosana Paulino, Suely Aldir Messeder, Susana de Castro, Thula Rafaela de Oliveira Pires, Yuderkys Espinosa Miñoso. O livro conta com um caderno de imagens em cor de obras das artistas brasileiras Adriana Varejão, Rosana Paulino e Marcela Cantuária.

Pensamento feminista hoje: perspectivas decoloniais

Why Muslim women should not wear the veil Across much of the world today, Muslim women of all ages are increasingly choosing to wear the veil. Is this trend a sign of rising piety or a way of asserting Muslim pride? And does the veil really provide women freedom from sexual harassment? Written in the form of letters addressing all those interested in this issue, Questioning the Veil examines the inconsistent and inadequate reasons given for the veil, and points to the dangers and limitations of this highly questionable cultural practice. Marnia Lazreg, a preeminent authority in Middle East women's studies, combines her own experiences growing up in a Muslim family in Algeria with interviews and the real-life stories of other Muslim women to produce this nuanced argument for doing away with the veil. Lazreg stresses that the veil is not included in the five pillars of Islam, asks whether piety sufficiently justifies veiling, explores the adverse psychological effects of the practice on the wearer and those around her, and pays special attention to the negative impact of veiling for young girls. Lazreg's provocative findings indicate that far from being spontaneous, the trend toward wearing the veil has been driven by an organized and growing campaign that includes literature, DVDs, YouTube videos, and courses designed by some Muslim men to teach women about their presumed rights under the veil. An incisive mix of the personal and political, supported by meticulous research, Questioning the Veil will compel all readers to reconsider their views of this controversial and sensitive topic.

She explores the roles Christianity and Islam played in rationalizing these acts, and the ways in which torture became not only routine but even acceptable."--BOOK JACKET.

Marnia Lazreg

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