
Markets of Civilization
Islam and Racial Capitalism in Algeria
Muriam Haleh Davis(Author)
Duke University Press
Published on 16. September 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
288 pages
978-1-4780-1850-6 (ISBN)
Description
In Markets of Civilization Muriam Haleh Davis provides a history of racial capitalism, showing how Islam became a racial category that shaped economic development in colonial and postcolonial Algeria. French officials in Paris and Algiers introduced what Davis terms "a racial regime of religion" that subjected Algerian Muslims to discriminatory political and economic structures. These experts believed that introducing a market economy would modernize society and discourage anticolonial nationalism. Planners, politicians, and economists implemented reforms that both sought to transform Algerians into modern economic subjects and drew on racial assumptions despite the formally color-blind policies of the French state. Following independence, convictions about the inherent link between religious beliefs and economic behavior continued to influence development policies. Algerian president Ahmed Ben Bella embraced a specifically Algerian socialism founded on Islamic principles, while French technocrats saw Algeria as a testing ground for development projects elsewhere in the Global South. Highlighting the entanglements of race and religion, Davis demonstrates that economic orthodoxies helped fashion understandings of national identity on both sides of the Mediterranean during decolonization.
Reviews / Votes
"Markets of Civilization makes for a fascinating addition both to the literature on Algeria and also to the broader literature on racial formations and racialization. . . . Well worth the read."- Marc Lynch (Marc Lynch) "Markets of Civilization is a much needed scholarly intervention into the connections between race, capital and economics, and enables us to think about racial capitalism outside of, but very much connected to, a Euro-American framework. An essential read for anyone interested in the story of capitalism as others experienced it." - Usman Butt (Middle East Monitor) "Davis's intervention brings our attention to an underappreciated historiographical domain of racial capitalism's inception, evolution and contestation (i.e., the late French empire). . . . Davis subtly adds the dimension of religion to a conversation that has been dominated by ethnic- and colour-based understandings of racial capitalism's historical origins and contemporary realities." - Jacob Mundy (Ethnic and Racial Studies) "Markets of Civilization makes a significant contribution to the field of Algerian history through its explication of the entanglements of racial, economic, and colonial imperatives. . . . I recommend the book to scholars and students interested in the study's widely-ranging themes, including racial capitalism in the Middle East, the connections between economic and intellectual histories, the enduring nature of colonial, racial thinking, and how post-independence Arab regimes negotiated and remade older colonial ideas and policies." - Sara Rahnama (International Journal of Middle East Studies) "A grounded and challenging effort to revive an older Third-Worldist scholarly tradition on Algeria. ... Davis's Markets of Civilization is a must-read for those interested in Algerian history, colonialism, and contemporary debates on Islam and Islamophobia, as well as scholars examining the twin social theories of race and political economy."
- Mohammed Salih (SAW Reviews) "Markets of Civilization combines skillful research with a creative revival of racial capitalism. It should be of great interest to scholars of French empire and the intersections of cultural and economic history." - Burleigh Hendrickson (L'Esprit Createur) "Davis's book fruitfully applies the framework of racial capitalism to illustrate how economic planning and development enduringly structured Arab and Muslim difference from white Christian Europeans." - Brooke Durham (H-Africa, H-Net Reviews)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
12 illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 224 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
396 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4780-1850-6 (9781478018506)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
08/2022
1st Edition
De Gruyter
€198.99
Available for download
Person
Muriam Haleh Davis is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and coeditor of North Africa and the Making of Europe: Governance, Institutions, and Culture.
Content
Acronyms ix
Transliteration Note xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. Settling the Colony 19
2. A New Algeria Rising 43
3. Decolonization and the Constantine Plan 69
4. Fellahs into Peasants 96
5. Communism in a White Burnous 119
6. Today's Utopia Is Tomorrow's Reality 144
Epilogue 167
Notes 177
Bibliography 227
Index 259
Transliteration Note xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
1. Settling the Colony 19
2. A New Algeria Rising 43
3. Decolonization and the Constantine Plan 69
4. Fellahs into Peasants 96
5. Communism in a White Burnous 119
6. Today's Utopia Is Tomorrow's Reality 144
Epilogue 167
Notes 177
Bibliography 227
Index 259