ABSTRACT
Most Algerians are Berbers, and though women are supposed to have something covering their hair, in Berber culture there is no such thing as a veil. If feminists go to the big cities the days everybody seems to be wearing one. It has also been used as a symbol of cultural resistance to French colonialism. Before the start of the Algerian fight for independence from France in 1954, the veil was only worn in the cities and not at all in the countryside. Many different political groups joined together in a common front, but each kept enough autonomy to be able to pursue its own political objectives within the front—except for women. In the summer of 1970, the first and only Pan-African Cultural Festival took place in Algiers. It included a symposium on African culture. For women they are in the Iranian fashion covering the entire body with something like the chador.
