Algeria - History, Human Rights, Tunisia - History, North African Politics & Goverment, Constitutions, Morocco - History

Human Rights and Reform

Name: Human Rights and Reform
Author: Susan E Waltz
ISBN: 9780520202542

by Susan E Waltz

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Overview

Indepence 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 indepent 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.

Author Biography: Susan Waltz is Associate Professor in the International Relations Department at Florida International University.

About the Author, Susan E Waltz

Susan Waltz is Associate Professor in the International Relations Department at Florida
International University.

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A systematic comparative analysis of North African politics exploring the post-colonial countries of Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria, and the political reformers who, since the 1970s, have risen up in response to brutal governmental repression. Waltz traces cultural and historical contexts which inform the human rights groups that have formed across North Africa, and their efforts to make human rights part of the political discourse in the region. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)