Human Rights and Reform: Changing the Face of North African Politics

by Susan E. Waltz

Independence from colonial rule did not usher in the halcyon days many North Africans had hoped for, as the new governments in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria soon came to rely on repression to reinforce and maintain power. In response to widespread human rights abuses, individuals across the Maghrib began to form groups in the late 1970s to challenge the political practices and structures in the region, and over time these independent human rights organizations became prominent political actors. The activists behind them are neither saints nor revolutionaries, but political reformers intent on changing political patterns that have impeded democratization.

This study, the first systematic comparative analysis of North African politics in more than a decade, explores the ability of society, including Islamist forces, to challenge the powers of states. Locating Maghribi polities within their cultural and historical contexts, Waltz traces state-society relations in the contemporary period. Even as Algeria totters at the brink of civil war and security concerns rise across the region, the human rights groups Susan Waltz examines implicitly challenge the authoritarian basis of political governance. Their efforts have not led to the democratic transition many had hoped, but human rights have become a crucial new element of North African political discourse.

279 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 1995

Reviews

[Jasmine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was written during the very tumultuous time in North Africa…late 80s early 90s. Most of the book focuses on very specific leaders of Human Rights movements in Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. It is somewhat strange to read this book in 2008, because so many of these issues have come a long way in a short period of time, but also the book is written from such a strange perspective…present focused, and finite, so that I was acutely conscious of the fact that I was not just reading “history” but someone’s opinion of what could possibly happen. I honestly was annoyed.
I enjoyed very much the statements made about how the culture and government of each country contributes in unique ways to human rights, but it did it so briefly because the author was more focused on the issues in that distant present, so its hard to glean from the book its modern applications…it is definitely not timeless, I would have preferred to read a more modern book that encompasses history, events, but is not pigeonholed by its writing to only be applicable for a few years.