Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Boutheina Cheriet

Boutheina Cheriet teaches comparative education and the sociology of education at the University of Algiers.

MER Article

Gender, Civil Society and Citizenship in Algeria

In 1993, I attended a ceremony of trance dancing called “Benga,” organized by the only group still performing in the town of Tebessa where I then lived. [1] The Tidjania group of Tebessa is a residual branch of the larger African Islamic sect that has practiced trance dancing for healing purposes, i

Boutheina Cheriet • 13 min read

MER Article

The Resilience of Algerian Populism

Before October 1988, Algeria struck most observers as one of the most radical political regimes in the Third World yet one of the most stable, a strong “socialist” fortress firmly in the hands of the National Liberation Front (FLN). Comfortably backed by oil and gas exports, an expert technocratic elite

Boutheina Cheriet • 17 min read