THE SITUATION OF WOMEN AND FEMINISTS IN T HE ALGERIAN CIVIL-WAR

MoniqueGadant: ''The Situation of Women and Feminists in the Algerian Civil War''. Contrary to what Algerian women might have hoped to achie ve as a consequence of their participation in the liberation war, thei r condition has not improved with the independence of Algeria. As a ma tter of fact, nationalists of every political affiliation have interpr eted the subordinate status of women as one of the foundations of thei r difference from the colonizer and thus of Algerian identity, as defi ned by Islam. The governments in power since 1962 have held to this li ne and have officialized the subjection of women by adopting the Famil y Code in 1984. Since the birth of the Islamist movements, the power s tructure has tried, however, to appear modernistic and favorable to wo men's emancipation Women, with their demands, are therefore completely caught up in the murderous rivalry among the various political factio ns and are pressured into support for one or another camp, in a civil war situation where appeals for discussion and negotiation are denounc ed as so many betrayals.