ABSTRACT
A notable feature of the Maghrebi political landscape since the 1990s has
been the increased profile of the issue of Berber identity. There has been a
rise in the number and influence of groups and organizations advocating
greater rights for, and stressing the importance of the specificities of, the
Berber-speaking populations of the region.1 The governments of the two
states with the largest Berber-speaking populations-Algeria and Mor-
occo-have also made a series of considerable concessions to some of the
main demands of these groups and organizations.2 This chapter aims to explain the reasons for and implications of this apparently new develop-
ment. These reasons and implications are fiercely debated not only by aca-
demics but also, significantly, by the leaders, political activists, and
increasing numbers of citizens from the two states who recognize that the
answers to these questions have potentially profound significance to impor-
tant debates about the identity of Algeria and Morocco, the future political
configurations in both countries, and even the Maghreb’s relations with the
wider world.
