Algeria

"Yes. There were a lot of books I thought about including that are single country studies which capture the dynamics of authoritarianism, violence and protest. The reason I like this one is it shows that even in a country where – over the last few decades – you had both stifling authoritarianism and horrific civil war, you still have this persistent, regular, almost ongoing popular protest and popular mobilisation. Sometimes it’s Islamic, sometimes it’s more leftist and class-based. It really captures the sense of society in ferment, of people constantly seeking to assert their rights and demand respect even under a stifling military regime. So for people who think [the uprising] came out of nowhere, if you go back and read a historical study like this you’ll be disabused of that view very quickly. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . One thing is that precisely because there is always so much agitation in Algeria, the introduction of more protests hasn’t registered as much as it did in, say, Tunisia. If I had to make a prediction – which is hard – I’d say Algeria is going to continue muddling along. But it’ll be impossible for them to resist the pressures for change if the regional environment continues to go in that direction. Especially in North Africa, Algeria tends to be more interdependent with that subregion than with the broader region as a whole. I would keep an eye on North Africa – what’s happening in Libya and Tunisia, what could happen in Morocco."