Brian Hohmann
Evolution of the Global System
Annotated Bibliography
November 6, 2007
Frederick Cooper, “What is the Concept of Globalization Good For? An African
Historian’s Perspective,” African Affairs (2001), pp. 189-213
The author, a professor of history at the University of Michigan, critically analyzes
“globalization” arguing that scholars need to be more precise, focus on the nature of spatial
linkages and their limits, and ground their analyses in more historical specificity when using the
concept as a category of analysis. This article will inform my discussion on “globalization” and
also will form part of my argument. In Cooper’s words: “Rather than argue for a sixteenth- or
seventeenth-century world system—and then assign casual weight to the logic of the system
itself—one can argue that structures of power and exchange were not so global and not so
systematic and that what was new was in the domain of political imagination.” This argument
will be followed into the 19th and 20th centuries to show how political, cultural and national
consciousness in Algeria spread globally, sparking others imaginations and consciousness not
directly related in anyway to the Algeria revolution.
Robert Malley, The Call from Algeria: Third Worldism, Revolution, and the Turn to
Islam (University of California Press, 1996)
The author, writing while a Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in the mid-1990s,
explores the historical, intellectual and ideological underpinnings of the contemporary crisis in
Algeria—a virtual civil war. Algeria is used as a case study to illuminate the ideology of (and
about) the Third World. His main purpose is to show the “dramatic move from Third Worldism to
the odd potpourri of economic liberalism, multiparty-ism, and the morass of ethnic, tribal, and
religious impulses…” which have all been experienced by Algeria. The book contains three main
themes. First is locating the Third Worldist ideology in the Algerian Revolution, how it
originated, evolved, and more recently drifted to Islamism. Second is a general relation of Third
Worldism as a whole, applying the conclusions reached on Algeria’s Third Worldism to other
examples. Third is to examine how Third Worldism, as a style of thought or discourse, is
constituted, maintained, and challenged. This work will allow me, while being critical of parts, to
Algerianize Third Worldism.
Patricia M.E. Lorcin, Imperial Identities: Stereotyping, prejudice and race in colonial
Algeria (I.B. Tauris, 1995)
The author, professor of history at University of Minnesota, explores the “mechanics of
marginalization and the formation of social hierarchies” through her selected interests in racial
ideology and imperialism. Of all the European colonies she choose Algeria for a few reasons.
Being the first formal colony of France’s second colonial empire in the 19th century, Algeria
serves as “the exemplar and experimental area for later colonial acquisitions.” Second, controlled
1830 to 1900 by two functionally different types of French officials—military officers and
civilian administrators—insight can be gained into what degree categories were constructed in
relation to French society as a whole or in relation to the particular sectors of Algerian society.
Third, Anderson’s concept of “imagined communities” could be utilized to examine how
categories have changed over time. Lastly, an analysis of the Arab-Berber dichotomy is pervasive
in previous scholarship showing categories had already been given historiographical expression.
This book will allow me to examine how the political, cultural and national consciousness was,
and was not, influenced and constructed from the outset of the Algerian colony to the beginning
of the 20th century.
Robert J.C. Young, Postcolonialism: An Historical Introduction (Blackwell
Publishers, 2001)
The author, professor of English at New York University, posits a cultural critique which
“involves the reconsideration of this [colonial] history, particularly from those who have suffered
its effects, together with the defining of its contemporary social and cultural impact.” This key
introduction work explains concepts, defines key terms, and interprets major works crucial to
postcolonial theory. This work will be utilized for the previous reasons and more specifically for
his discussions on Africa, Algeria, and Frantz Fanon.
Stephen Howe, Afrocentrism: Mythical Pasts and Imagined Homes (Verso, 1998)
The author, professor of history at Bristol University, critiques the Afrocentrism and offers
alternative conceptions on African history and its diaspora. From the moderate sense
Afrocentrism refers to an “an exphasis on shared African origins among all ‘black’ people” and
taking pride and interest in African history and culture. More extreme versions can be seen as
akin to cultural nationalism with strong views on race and destiny. This work will provide support
for the diffusion of political, national and cultural consciousness explored in this case study of
Algeria.
Franz Fanon, The Wretched of the Earth (Grove Press, 2004)
The author, a psychiatrist in Algeria and member of the FLN during the revolution, theorizes on
violence, the process of decolonization, national consciousness and culture and the psychological
effects of colonial war on all those involved. Wretched has greatly influenced anticolonial
movements and political consciousness globally. I will use this work as a primary source and as a
means of discussing the dynamics of consciousness construction and deconstruction.
Nigel C. Gibson eds., Rethinking Fanon: The Continuing Dialogue (Humanity
Books, 1999)
The author has compiled a series of essays that explore Fanon’s life and works according to four
themes: politics and revolution, cultural criticism, gender and national consciousness, and the
quest for a new humanism. Selected essays will be used for making connections between Fanon’s
work and its actual effects on the world community.