Soufiane Djilali: thinking about Algeria beyond political impasses

In an interview with Oumma, Soufiane Djilali offers a high-quality reflection, which stands out from the usual analyzes on Algeria. At a time when, in France, certain commentators established as specialists are reducing the country to clichés, in speeches which sometimes border on Algerian phobia, his analysis invites us to go beyond the caricatures. The essayist and former president of the party Jil Jadid shifts the perspective: behind the political and economic blockages there is, according to him, a deeper crisis, that of a society divided between traditional heritage and modern aspirations. Author of Algeria faces its destiny. Between heritage, modernity and quest for meaningpublished by L’Harmattan, it invites us to think about a modernity that is neither an imitation of the West nor a retreat into an idealized past.

To understand Algeria’s difficulties, Soufiane Djilali believes that we must go beyond just an institutional reading. His thesis is that of a crisis that is primarily anthropological: two visions of the world, one traditional, the other modern, coexist without their contradictions having been truly thought through.

This tension runs through society, but also through each individual. Attached to inherited values, while adopting behaviors and aspirations stemming from modernity, Algerians must deal with sometimes incompatible demands. It is this hybrid condition which fuels, in his analysis, part of the collective unease.

A modernity to be built from the inside

Soufiane Djilali describes a modernity long endured rather than reflected on, introduced in particular by colonization and proximity to Europe. After independence, modernization largely involved the importation of institutions, the development of industry and the construction of cities. But these material transformations are not enough, he emphasizes, to bring out the ways of thinking that accompany them.

He therefore pleads for an endogenous modernity, developed from the own resources of Algerian society. This requires re-examining tradition, distinguishing its founding principles from practices accumulated over history, then responding to contemporary needs without denying an entire civilizational heritage.

Re-examine the past without sacralizing it

From this perspective, he analyzes political Islamism and certain identity demands as responses to contemporary dismay turned towards a mythologized past. Faced with a destabilizing present, a return to origins can offer refuge, without necessarily providing solutions to the challenges of the future.

His reflection is based in particular on a distinction between the Koranic message and the historical interpretations which have gradually become attached to it. In his eyes, revisiting these interpretations does not mean abandoning religion, but recognizing that previous generations developed their responses in particular contexts.

He thus calls for mobilizing reason, knowledge and science to re-examine what has been transmitted, without attributing a sacred character to all human constructions of history.

Annuity, a relationship to effort and society

His analysis of oil revenue also goes beyond the economic question. According to him, a system sustainably organized around the redistribution of hydrocarbon revenues has gradually weakened the link between productive effort and standard of living.

This logic permeates institutions, businesses and individual behavior. Exiting it therefore requires more than a declared diversification: we must develop production capacities and transform the habits established by the rent-seeking economy.

Hirak, revealer of a society in motion

Soufiane Djilali sees in the Hirak of 2019 the expression of silent maturation. The presence, in the demonstrations, of women and men with diverse sensitivities, capable of rubbing shoulders and dialoguing, revealed a profound evolution in social relations. Without having produced the hoped-for results, the movement made visible the capacity for tolerance and coexistence. However, these advances coexist with persistent violence and rigidity: another manifestation of this tension between social transformation and attachment to old models.

At the end of the interview, the essayist defends an ethical intelligence articulating lucidity, responsibility and human goals. An invitation to look at history with courage, to question legacies and to construct responses adapted to the present. The strength of this reflection lies in this requirement: thinking about the future of Algeria based on society itself, its contradictions and its resources.

To extend this reflection, reading Algeria facing its destiny is essential for all those who wish to better understand Algeria, its contradictions and its aspirations. A work that goes beyond conventional analyzes and offers valuable keys to thinking about the future of the country.