A Political History of the Contemporary Maghreb: From the 1950s to the Present – Conversation with Nessim Znaien
Diana Abbani in Conversation with Nessim Znaien

Nessim Znaien is a Junior Professor at the University of Marburg, holding the (Post)colonial Maghreb Chair since April 2022. After studying history in Lyon and Paris, he defended a doctoral thesis at the University of Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne in September 2017, entitled “Les raisins de la domination. Histoire sociale de l’alcool dans la Tunisie du Protectorat (1881-1956)”. To complete this thesis, Nessim Znaien was awarded a grant from the Institut de Recherche sur le Maghreb Contemporain (IRMC), a French research institute based in Tunis (2014-2017). He was also a lecturer at the University of Aix-Marseille (2017-2020). Nessim Znaien is one of the editors of the journal l’Année du Maghreb. He conducts research on the history of material culture in the colonial and post-colonial Maghreb, in particular on the history of food and cereals.
Diana Abbani: What inspired you, along with Karima Dirèche and Aurélia Dusserre, to co-write Une histoire politique du Maghreb contemporain? What were the primary challenges in framing the history and balancing the comparative analysis of the three Maghreb countries?
Nessim Znain: The idea for the book came from Karima Dirèche, who had long wanted to produce a synthesis work on the subject. She found it interesting to approach this project as a team, with three researchers from different generations, each with a different relationship to the recent history of the Maghreb. We believed this work was missing from the scientific literature on the Maghreb. All historians in this field agree that there are too few studies on the Maghreb after independence and that we need to move away from a focus on colonization. At the same time, to develop a new field of research, we need synthesis works to draw upon. The few existing works focused on a single country, while the Maghreb as a whole has received little attention in understanding the phenomena of recent decades, despite the term “Maghreb” referring to a shared reality regularly used by both North African and European stakeholders.
The main challenges stemmed from the fact that the histories of the different countries follow different timelines that are not always easy to link. We also rejected a purely political history approach, which was too simplistic and unoriginal. We felt it was very important to combine elements of economic cultural and demographic history. All these histories and historiographies also obey different time frames, which were not so easy to combine. On the other hand, the pleasant surprise was that we found a great deal of information on all the countries, and that we never had the impression that we had to manage an imbalance of knowledge in favor of one country over another
Diana: Can you discuss the research methodologies and sources you used to compile the historical data for this book? What types of primary sources did you use, and how did they influence your interpretation of the political narratives and dynamics in the Maghreb?
Nessim: This is a history book, and all three authors are historians, so we have always been clear about the scientific scope of the project. However, we quickly realized it was impossible to base this general history of the Maghreb after independence solely on PhD theses, as scientific works in this area are too few and scattered. The difficulty in accessing certain written sources, especially administrative archives, partly explains this lack of historical work. We addressed this challenge by relying on numerous articles and books in sociology, political science, and geography written from the 1960s onward, particularly in leading scientific journals. Although some data and interpretations were a bit dated, much of this work remained serious and usable. We undertook specific work to use this data from a historiographical perspective. We also supplemented this secondary literature with some primary sources, particularly photographs, which we incorporated into dedicated sections.
What struck us when reading these sources and scientific works was the rapid transformation of Maghrebi societies in just a few years. The subjects addressed by scholars have diversified considerably as the material cultures of Maghrebi societies opened up and diversified in response to often violent integration into globalization. A notable figure is that while only 5% of North Africans had direct access to telephones in the early 1980s, by 2010, 95% did.
Diana: How do you interpret the persistence of authoritarian regimes in the Maghreb post-independence? What factors have contributed to their longevity despite various forms of opposition?
Nessim: What stood out to us was the wide variety of forms that these authoritarian regimes took across different countries. For example, the notion of a personality cult, which was essential in structuring authoritarianism in Tunisia and to a lesser extent in Morocco, is largely absent in Algeria. The idea of an authoritarian regime, therefore, reflects a complex and diverse reality. Moreover, none of these regimes was ever a monolithic block. Spaces for protest, creativity, and expression have always existed in one way or another, through cultural or economic activities. This is what we sought to show in the book: the extraordinary ferment of these societies, even during the harshest periods of repression, such as the “Years of Lead” in Morocco.
However, repression of opposition and the more or less successful control of political life were undeniable across all three countries during this period. One factor in the persistence of these regimes lies in the management of independence struggles and the early post-independence years. The actors and clans that gained independence sought to take advantage of their legitimacy to remain in power.
It is no coincidence that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, protests against these regimes increased in all three countries: a new generation, which had not experienced the struggle for independence, rose to power and challenged the established order. The persistence of these regimes can be partly explained by the solidarity among elites who came to power in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as by the fragmented and diverse nature of the opposition.
Diana: How did neoliberal economic policies affect social and economic inequalities in the Maghreb, and what key cultural shifts since independence influenced family structures, education, and the role of women?
Nessim: Neoliberal policies have been particularly violent in the Maghreb, especially in Tunisia and Morocco. Both countries were under pressure from the IMF in the 1980s and sought to present themselves as “good students” in the 1990s to gain international legitimacy through structural adjustment programs. This legitimacy was essential because it compensated for the varying degrees of unpopularity within these countries. As elsewhere, these policies consisted of privatisations and a reduction in the role of the state, particularly in subsidies. Changes to investment codes facilitated company takeovers and mergers.
The essence of these policies was to make regions, companies and workers compete with each other. These policies were associated with corruption and clientelism, which accentuated economic inequalities. Broadly speaking, particularly in agriculture, there was an ever-widening gap between large investors—often targeting national and global markets with close ties to those in power—and a mass of small businesses and farmers, many of whom were in debt. Large investors monopolized natural resources, particularly water, further weakening the rest of the population. Finally, these inequalities were often reinforced by the fact that bank credit policies favor the richest companies or investors.
Regarding cultural developments, the three Maghreb states have pursued very different policies. Morocco, unlike Algeria and especially Tunisia, long neglected its education policies. However, all three states have, for a considerable time, sought to control cultural and family policies, whether through state feminism (I’m thinking of the National Union of Tunisian Women, which represented this feminism under Bourguiba) or through state-subsidized and supervised cultural activities (I’m thinking of the Panaf festival in Algeria in 1969). These dirigiste cultural policies were gradually called into question for at least three reasons: the disengagement of states and neo-liberal policies from the 1980s onwards, increasingly open opposition to the governments in power, and globalization, which also exposed North African societies to other debates. However, in all three countries, the state still maintains a strong tendency to intervene in certain issues, such as family codes.
Diana: In your view, what were the most profound effects of the Arab Spring on the political and social landscapes of the Maghreb?
Nessim: Beyond the upheavals in political life in the strict sense, the Arab Spring (including the Algerian hirak) was a time of intense debate and questioning. In the book, we identify several social debates that have been given fresh impetus, focusing on the past of North African societies and the place of sexual minorities in these societies. These debates were made possible by the revolutionary events. The Arab Spring was also a period of initiatives: artistic life flourished during this period, and many festivals and meetings were held, particularly in Tunisia.
There were also social movements, often linked to environmental issues, which did not receive much international media coverage. For instance, the protests at the Imider mine in Morocco are noteworthy. These have been the most significant legacies of recent years, although experienced in very different ways in each country.
Politically, the balance of power between conservative and more progressive lines has been constantly discussed and reshaped, marking a historic shift: it can no longer be said that political life in the Maghreb is stagnant. Some intellectuals have described this period as the ‘return of history to the Maghreb’, as if, for the first time since independence, these societies were really getting moving.
Diana: How have different forms of resistance, such as Islamic movements, Berber activism, and social protests, influenced the political dynamics in the Maghreb? What are some pivotal moments or movements that shaped the region’s contemporary political landscape?
Nessim: Broadly speaking, three types of resistance to authoritarian power have significantly challenged the grip of these regimes over their societies. Left-wing resistance, the oldest and once the most organized, began to decline in the 1980s as part of a global trend, not just within the Maghreb. In the early 1980s, political Islam gained prominence, particularly in Algeria, alongside demands related to Berber identity, notably the Berber Spring of the early 1980s. These two forms of resistance questioned the overly simplistic and uniform national narratives established after independence. Demands linked to Berberism or Amazighness have resurfaced during social crises, such as in Algeria in 2001 or Morocco in 2011 and 2016.
Political Islam became particularly dynamic in the late 1980s and 1990s, especially in Algeria. Although the Islamist party was set to win the elections in Algeria, the authorities at the time decided to halt the electoral process, leading to a particularly bloody civil war in the 1990s. Since then, political scientists have debated the vitality or decline of political Islam in the Maghreb. However, one can only conclude that Islamist parties maintained a strong local presence and achieved significant electoral success in Tunisia and Morocco until the late 2010s.
In any case, these three types of resistance demonstrate that the dictatorships established after independence, despite being powerful and brutal, were never hegemonic and always had to negotiate with more or less organized opposition. One example of such negotiation or compromise occurred in the second half of the 2000s: at the height of Ben Ali’s power in Tunisia, social movements and strikes were regularly tolerated, provided they did not take over the public space.
Diana: Based on the books’ findings, what do you identify as the primary political and social challenges facing the Maghreb region in the coming decades? How do you think these challenges will be addressed?
Nessim: As historians, it is not always easy to answer questions about the future. However, we can say that several historical events and phenomena have opened up in recent years and decades in the Maghreb and are far from being closed. How Maghrebi societies and states deal with their post-independence authoritarian past remains a significant issue that will need to be addressed in the coming years, whether through transitional justice policies or in the way these pasts are written.
Furthermore, the major upheavals caused by neoliberal policies in the Maghreb since the 1980s have certainly not yet had their full impact in the Maghreb. The book’s final chapters highlight the emergence of increasingly intense debates around social issues (the death penalty, homosexuality, atheism) and environmental realities, particularly from the 2010s onwards. These debates will likely continue to divide North African societies and political classes in the decades to come.
Diana: What do you hope scholars and readers will take away from “Une histoire politique du Maghreb contemporain”?
Nessim: The first message we wanted to convey is that post-independence Maghreb societies have undergone very complex lives and transformations. There have been many cultural movements in various directions. Moreover, Maghreb societies have been profoundly connected to global processes. The material, demographic, and political realities between the early 1970s and the 2010s are radically different.
If there is a key observation, it is that we need to move beyond viewing these societies as politically and ideologically atonic, stagnant or withdrawn, because being plagued by authoritarianism or political Islam.
Dr. Diana Abbani is the science communication coordinator for the Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM) at the Forum Transregionale Studien. She is responsible for MECAM’s transregional science communication, collaborative meetings (academies and transregional workshops), and research data management. Diana Abbani is part of the TRAFO-Blog editorial team.
Citation: A Political History of the Contemporary Maghreb: From the 1950s to the Present – Conversation with Nessim Znaien, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 10.10.2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/12g4b
OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Forum Transregionale Studien (October 10, 2024). A Political History of the Contemporary Maghreb: From the 1950s to the Present – Conversation with Nessim Znaien. TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research. Retrieved April 28, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/12g4b