ABSTRACT
The rise of a popularly based Islamist movement in Algeria in the late 1980s was a source of surprise to many observers of contemporary Algerian politics. In the short period between its legal formation in 1989 and its thwarted electoral success in December 1991, the Islamic Salvation Front (Front Islamique du Salut, FIS) was the main beneficiary of the popular protest aroused in October 1988. In an examination of the multifaceted phenomenon of Islamism, it is important to look beyond the immediacy of events in Algeria to the historical context within which this movement gained momentum. The political moment came for the FIS in late 1988, when the democratization process set in train by President Chadli Benjedid in 1988 gave rise to the formation, eventually, of around sixty movements or parties. Several of the newly formed groups openly embraced Islamic values, yet none gained the national appeal of the FIS.
