Il modello socialista algerino. Trent'anni di storia tra indipendenza e spinte progressiste.

This research explores the history of Algerian socialism and its peculiarities. The country followed the socialist path after achieving independence from French colonial rule in 1962, as it was deemed the best way to initiate a rapid development process in a nation where economic improvements were urgently needed after 132 years of colonial domination. This work is structured into three sections. The first section begins with a general outlook on socialism from a theoretical perspective and delves into the complex issue of precisely defining what socialism is. After presenting these concepts, the discussion transitions from the general to the specific, culminating in an examination of Arab socialism. The second section traces the history of Algerian socialism, starting with a brief overview of the colonial period and then exploring its features in depth. These include the main documents establishing the principles upon which the new state was to be built, the importance of workers and their self-management in industries and farms, the growing bureaucracy, the agrarian reform of 1971, and the eventual decline of socialism. Each of these elements is set within a chronological framework. Consequently, the entire second section reviews the events from the Ben Bella period (1962–1965) through the Boumediene era (1965–1978) and concludes with an analysis of the key events during the early years of Chadli Benjedid's presidency and the end of Algerian socialism. The third section provides an analysis of the agrarian reform known as the "agrarian revolution," initiated by President Houari Boumediene in 1971. It demonstrates the failure to achieve the objectives of social justice that the reform purportedly aimed to realize. This conclusion is supported by historical evidence, highlighting both the objective obstacles the reform faced and the objections raised by the social elites of the country.