The Calculus of Dissidence: The FFS and the Failure of Opposition in Algeria

Speaker: Professor Hugh Roberts, Tufts University Discussant: Dr Aula Hariri, LSE Middle East Centre Chair: Professor John Chalcraft, LSE The Socialist Forces Front (FFS) is routinely referred to as Algeria’s oldest opposition party. Finally legalised in 1989, the FFS from its foundation in 1963 provided the main template of ‘opposition’ in Algeria, but its achievements have been meagre at best. Hugh Roberts examines the FFS’s origins in the rebellion of 1963-5, arguing that its achievements as an opposition movement have been limited because it has not been engaged in opposition properly so called, merely dissidence. Recorded on 30 May 2017. This seminar forms part of the 'Social Movements and Popular Mobilisation in the MENA Research Theme'.