Our fighting sisters Nation, memory and gender in Algeria, 19542012 [Paperback]

Between 1954 and 1962, Algerian women played a major role in the struggle to end French rule in one of the twentieth century's most violent wars of decolonisation. This is the first in-depth exploration of what happened to these women after independence in 1962. Based on new oral history interviews with women who participated in the war in a wide range of roles, from urban bombers to members of the rural guerrilla support network, it explores how female veterans viewed the post-independence state and its multiple discourses on 'the Algerian woman' in the fifty years following 1962. It also examines how these former combatants' memories of the anti-colonial conflict intertwine with, contradict or coexist alongside the state-sponsored narrative of the war constructed after independence. Making an original contribution to debates about gender, nationalism and memory, this book will appeal to students and scholars of history and politics.

Introduction

1. Nationalist genealogies

2. Heroines and victims, brothers and sisters

3. 1962: Continuities and discontinuities

4. Embodying the nation

5. From national construction to new battles

6. Being remembered and forgotten

Conclusion

Select bibliography

Index

Memories of wars matter. In their intimate and collective forms, wartime memories can shape current post-war identities, loyalties, understandings, aspirations, fears and, of course, silences...one of the most notable decisions that Natalya Vince has made in writing Our Fighting Sisters is choosing the dates for her subtitle: '1954-2012.' By choosing 2012 as her end point, she immediately highlights the analytical time frame of her investigation. She tells us that she does not think the Algerian anti-colonial war simply ended when the French pulled out. Rather, she contends, the war's gendered ripple effects have extended into 'peacetime. - Cynthia Enloe, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA, Wol“7