Colonialism the battle of algiers
around the world through films dr. nazanin shahrokni, Week TWO lecture spring 2026
agenda
History of colonialism
Colonization & Colonialism
logistics
french north africa
the logic of elimination
different colonial forms
anti-colonial resistance
film in focus
french Algeria
next week's agenda
Your response should:
logistics
Identify one or more key concepts discussed in lecture and readings (e.g. colonialism, cold war, state power, racial capitalism, etc.).Explain how these concepts appear in the film, using specific scenes, moments, or cinematic choices (e.g. framing, sound, pacing, perspective). Connect the film to the readings, showing how the readings help you interpret what is happening on screen - or how the film complicates, illustrates, or challenges the arguments made in the texts. Move between intimate stories and socio-political structures, showing how individual lives are shaped by larger systems such as empires, markets, states, or international institutions.
response papers
Each response paper asks you to use film as an analytical lens to explore how global power relations are produced, lived, and contested. In approximately 1000 words, you will engage one assigned film and at least two required readings. Your task is not to summarize the film or readings, but to analyze how they help you understand a broader political, social, or economic structure central to International Studies.
The word itself comes from the Latin colonia, meaning a settlement or farming outpost.
Colonization & Colonialism
Colonization refers to the process by which an empire extends control over new territory. This often involved:• military conquest
• settlement
• appropriation of land
• establishment of administrative control
Colonialism is the system of power that emerges from colonization. It includes:1. Legal frameworks that differentiate rulers from ruled 2. Racial, cultural, and political hierarchies 3. Economic systems that benefit the metropole 4. Ideological narratives that justify domination
Colonization is an act.
Colonialism is a structure.
Colonization can be dated to a moment - an invasion, a treaty, a settlement. Colonialism persists through institutions, laws, and everyday practices.
Britain’s empire spanning India, parts of Africa & beyond France’s empire across North & West Africa Spain and Portugal’s earlier dominance in the Americas The Netherlands in Indonesia Belgium’s control over the Congo
History of colonialism
colonialism is: global uneven overlapping competitive
A Brief Global History of Colonialism (Beginning late 15th century)
Trade & Resources: Control of valuable goods such as gold, silver, spices, sugar, cotton, and later oil & minerals
Why Did Empires Expand?
Land & Settlement: Acquisition of territory for European settlers & agricultural production
Labor: Access to cheap or coerced labor through slavery, forced labor, and colonial work regimes
Religion & “Civilizing” Missions: Spreading Christianity and European cultural norms, framed as moral duty
Imperial Rivalry: Competition between European powers for territory, prestige, and strategic advantage
Industrial Capitalism: Need for raw materials & overseas markets by the 19th century
Security & Strategy: Control of trade routes, ports, and military outposts
different colonial forms
different colonial forms
Extractive Colonialism
administrative colonialism
settlercolonialism
Colonialism oriented toward governance and imperial management
Colonialism oriented toward resources, labor, and control
Colonialism oriented toward land, permanence, and replacement
Settler colonialism is a land-centred project that coordinates a range of agencies, from the metropolitan centre to the frontier encampment.
Understanding settler colonialism (according to wolfe)
Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism where outsiders come to stay, and the core goal becomes secure, permanent control of territory, which usually requires getting Indigenous people out of the way, physically and/or socially.
Wolfe says: to block settler colonization, “all the native has to do is stay at home.”
It looks voluntary (“if you don’t want to sell, don’t sell”), but Wolfe argues that the American (settlers') right to buy always superseded the Indian (natives') right not to sell.
Colonial power works on two levels at once:
Discursive: stories, categories, and justifications that define people, land, and worth (e.g., who counts as “civilized,” who “properly” uses land). Material: laws, force, institutions, and economic systems that enforce those ideas on the ground (removal, property regimes, settlement-building). Together, they remake landscapes, social relations, and futures.
french north africa
French AlgeriaContext Before The Battle of Algiers
Why Algeria was different?
- Tunisia (1881) & Morocco (1912) were protectorates → indirect rule, negotiated independence (1956)
- Algeria was incorporated into France in 1848 (three departments)
- A settler colony inside the metropole: independence framed as loss of “France,” not decolonization
- ~1–1.2 million European settlers (≈10%) dominated land & politics
french Algeria
Equality was promised in theory, but structurally blocked in practice. Algeria was “France” - but not everyone in Algeria was French in the same way.
Algerian labor helped make France a global wine power.Wine grown on confiscated Algerian land was consumed in metropolitan France itself. Empire was not just “over there” - it fed and sustained the metropole.
Settlers controlled up to 80% of fertile land by the 1950s Algerians became cheap labor in agriculture, construction, factories, and the army
Land, labor, extraction
Why the Film Focuses on 1956–57
The Algerian War of Independence lasts from 1954 to 1962, but The Battle of Algiers concentrates on 1956–1957 for a reason. This is the moment when: resistance shifts decisively from rural guerrilla warfare to urban insurgency Why the city matters:
- Rural violence can be dismissed as banditry.
- Urban violence threatens the colonial promise of order.
- Cities concentrate settlers, administrators, surveillance, and international attention.
In Algiers, the conflict becomes a struggle over:
- who can move
- who can disappear
- who represents “the people”
- who controls visibility
By 1956, France had deployed over 400,000 troops, turning Algiers into a laboratory of modern counter-insurgency.
the UN's Role in Algeria's Independence
anti-colonial Resistance before the FLN
1830s–1847: Emir Abdelkader leads armed resistance to French invasion Late 19th century: rural revolts; religious movements; refusals of taxation and land seizure Early 20th century: reformist nationalism; petitions for equal rights; labor organizing; political parties demanding inclusion within France By the mid-20th century, many Algerians had tried every legal and political channel available.
The FLN emerges in 1954 when these avenues appear fully exhausted.
anti-colonial resistance
Quiz 1
Write your full name.
Use only one side of the response card.
Your answer should be legible. You have 10min.
Colonial rule often created a two-tier system of citizenship. Using The Battle of Algiers, explain what this means and give one example from the film.
The film shows the collapse of a colonial system built on land seizure, legal inequality, labor extraction, and blocked political futures.
II
Scenes from the film
III
II
IV
unveiling algeria
Fanon helps us see that in The Battle of Algiers, the veil, the street, and the body are not cultural details - they are sites where colonial power and anti-colonial resistance collide. For Fanon, revolution is not only bombs and guns - it is the reorganization of daily life.
Colonial surveillance produces resistance
Algerian women rework gender norms during the revolution. The veil can be worn, removed, or altered depending on the task. Women are not passive victims or symbols - they are agents in the struggle.
Before: part of social life and custom Under colonial rule: a symbol of resistance During the war: a strategic tool
Women’s bodies become instruments of war
The veil shifts meaning under colonial pressure
The more the French try to classify, monitor, and control Algerians, the more Algerians learn to manipulate visibility. “Every veil that fell, every body that was revealed, announced a new battle.”
The Battle of Algiers in Pentagon
The Pentagon screened The Battle of Algiers as American officials confronted “the tactics of insurgency and counterinsurgency in the age of terrorism.” The film was treated as a manual - not a cautionary tale. The film shows how torture “worked” in the narrow sense of dismantling insurgent networks - while raising disturbing questions about its political and moral consequences. The Battle of Algiers refuses to provide moral comfort; it presents terror and repression as mutually reinforcing tools in a brutal struggle for control.
The French won the battle for Algiers, but lost Algeria.
Next week's agenda
How to Watch The Atomic Café? This documentary is made entirely from U.S. government films, newsreels, advertisements, and public information clips from the early Cold War. As you watch, do not treat it as a neutral history. Instead, watch it as an archive of how the Cold War was explained to ordinary people.
How fear is managed?
- Are citizens expected to protect themselves, or rely on the state?
- What role do experts, scientists, and the military play?
- How are families and children portrayed?
How fear is managed?
- How does the film talk about nuclear destruction without showing panic?
- What emotions are encouraged (calm, confidence, obedience, reassurance)?
- What emotions are discouraged?
What is left unsaid?
- What kinds of information are missing or minimized?
- What questions are not allowed to be asked?
- How does silence function as part of the message?
Good night & good luck!
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Transcript
Colonialism the battle of algiers
around the world through films dr. nazanin shahrokni, Week TWO lecture spring 2026
agenda
History of colonialism
Colonization & Colonialism
logistics
french north africa
the logic of elimination
different colonial forms
anti-colonial resistance
film in focus
french Algeria
next week's agenda
Your response should:
logistics
Identify one or more key concepts discussed in lecture and readings (e.g. colonialism, cold war, state power, racial capitalism, etc.).Explain how these concepts appear in the film, using specific scenes, moments, or cinematic choices (e.g. framing, sound, pacing, perspective). Connect the film to the readings, showing how the readings help you interpret what is happening on screen - or how the film complicates, illustrates, or challenges the arguments made in the texts. Move between intimate stories and socio-political structures, showing how individual lives are shaped by larger systems such as empires, markets, states, or international institutions.
response papers
Each response paper asks you to use film as an analytical lens to explore how global power relations are produced, lived, and contested. In approximately 1000 words, you will engage one assigned film and at least two required readings. Your task is not to summarize the film or readings, but to analyze how they help you understand a broader political, social, or economic structure central to International Studies.
The word itself comes from the Latin colonia, meaning a settlement or farming outpost.
Colonization & Colonialism
Colonization refers to the process by which an empire extends control over new territory. This often involved:• military conquest • settlement • appropriation of land • establishment of administrative control
Colonialism is the system of power that emerges from colonization. It includes:1. Legal frameworks that differentiate rulers from ruled 2. Racial, cultural, and political hierarchies 3. Economic systems that benefit the metropole 4. Ideological narratives that justify domination
Colonization is an act. Colonialism is a structure. Colonization can be dated to a moment - an invasion, a treaty, a settlement. Colonialism persists through institutions, laws, and everyday practices.
Britain’s empire spanning India, parts of Africa & beyond France’s empire across North & West Africa Spain and Portugal’s earlier dominance in the Americas The Netherlands in Indonesia Belgium’s control over the Congo
History of colonialism
colonialism is: global uneven overlapping competitive
A Brief Global History of Colonialism (Beginning late 15th century)
Trade & Resources: Control of valuable goods such as gold, silver, spices, sugar, cotton, and later oil & minerals
Why Did Empires Expand?
Land & Settlement: Acquisition of territory for European settlers & agricultural production
Labor: Access to cheap or coerced labor through slavery, forced labor, and colonial work regimes
Religion & “Civilizing” Missions: Spreading Christianity and European cultural norms, framed as moral duty
Imperial Rivalry: Competition between European powers for territory, prestige, and strategic advantage
Industrial Capitalism: Need for raw materials & overseas markets by the 19th century
Security & Strategy: Control of trade routes, ports, and military outposts
different colonial forms
different colonial forms
Extractive Colonialism
administrative colonialism
settlercolonialism
Colonialism oriented toward governance and imperial management
Colonialism oriented toward resources, labor, and control
Colonialism oriented toward land, permanence, and replacement
Settler colonialism is a land-centred project that coordinates a range of agencies, from the metropolitan centre to the frontier encampment.
Understanding settler colonialism (according to wolfe)
Settler colonialism is a form of colonialism where outsiders come to stay, and the core goal becomes secure, permanent control of territory, which usually requires getting Indigenous people out of the way, physically and/or socially.
Wolfe says: to block settler colonization, “all the native has to do is stay at home.”
It looks voluntary (“if you don’t want to sell, don’t sell”), but Wolfe argues that the American (settlers') right to buy always superseded the Indian (natives') right not to sell.
Colonial power works on two levels at once:
Discursive: stories, categories, and justifications that define people, land, and worth (e.g., who counts as “civilized,” who “properly” uses land). Material: laws, force, institutions, and economic systems that enforce those ideas on the ground (removal, property regimes, settlement-building). Together, they remake landscapes, social relations, and futures.
french north africa
French AlgeriaContext Before The Battle of Algiers
Why Algeria was different?
french Algeria
Equality was promised in theory, but structurally blocked in practice. Algeria was “France” - but not everyone in Algeria was French in the same way.
Algerian labor helped make France a global wine power.Wine grown on confiscated Algerian land was consumed in metropolitan France itself. Empire was not just “over there” - it fed and sustained the metropole.
Settlers controlled up to 80% of fertile land by the 1950s Algerians became cheap labor in agriculture, construction, factories, and the army
Land, labor, extraction
Why the Film Focuses on 1956–57
The Algerian War of Independence lasts from 1954 to 1962, but The Battle of Algiers concentrates on 1956–1957 for a reason. This is the moment when: resistance shifts decisively from rural guerrilla warfare to urban insurgency Why the city matters:
- Rural violence can be dismissed as banditry.
- Urban violence threatens the colonial promise of order.
- Cities concentrate settlers, administrators, surveillance, and international attention.
In Algiers, the conflict becomes a struggle over:- who can move
- who can disappear
- who represents “the people”
- who controls visibility
By 1956, France had deployed over 400,000 troops, turning Algiers into a laboratory of modern counter-insurgency.the UN's Role in Algeria's Independence
anti-colonial Resistance before the FLN
1830s–1847: Emir Abdelkader leads armed resistance to French invasion Late 19th century: rural revolts; religious movements; refusals of taxation and land seizure Early 20th century: reformist nationalism; petitions for equal rights; labor organizing; political parties demanding inclusion within France By the mid-20th century, many Algerians had tried every legal and political channel available. The FLN emerges in 1954 when these avenues appear fully exhausted.
anti-colonial resistance
Quiz 1
Write your full name. Use only one side of the response card. Your answer should be legible. You have 10min.
Colonial rule often created a two-tier system of citizenship. Using The Battle of Algiers, explain what this means and give one example from the film.
The film shows the collapse of a colonial system built on land seizure, legal inequality, labor extraction, and blocked political futures.
II
Scenes from the film
III
II
IV
unveiling algeria
Fanon helps us see that in The Battle of Algiers, the veil, the street, and the body are not cultural details - they are sites where colonial power and anti-colonial resistance collide. For Fanon, revolution is not only bombs and guns - it is the reorganization of daily life.
Colonial surveillance produces resistance
Algerian women rework gender norms during the revolution. The veil can be worn, removed, or altered depending on the task. Women are not passive victims or symbols - they are agents in the struggle.
Before: part of social life and custom Under colonial rule: a symbol of resistance During the war: a strategic tool
Women’s bodies become instruments of war
The veil shifts meaning under colonial pressure
The more the French try to classify, monitor, and control Algerians, the more Algerians learn to manipulate visibility. “Every veil that fell, every body that was revealed, announced a new battle.”
The Battle of Algiers in Pentagon
The Pentagon screened The Battle of Algiers as American officials confronted “the tactics of insurgency and counterinsurgency in the age of terrorism.” The film was treated as a manual - not a cautionary tale. The film shows how torture “worked” in the narrow sense of dismantling insurgent networks - while raising disturbing questions about its political and moral consequences. The Battle of Algiers refuses to provide moral comfort; it presents terror and repression as mutually reinforcing tools in a brutal struggle for control.
The French won the battle for Algiers, but lost Algeria.
Next week's agenda
How to Watch The Atomic Café? This documentary is made entirely from U.S. government films, newsreels, advertisements, and public information clips from the early Cold War. As you watch, do not treat it as a neutral history. Instead, watch it as an archive of how the Cold War was explained to ordinary people.
How fear is managed?
How fear is managed?
What is left unsaid?
Good night & good luck!