Contenu du sommaire : Pieds-Noirs, Harkis, Rapatriés

This article examines the various aspects of the processes of politization of the stakes related to the repatriates of Algeria, since 1962. Defined in terms of passage of the social activities or collective objects in the political field, politization belongs to the processes whose repatriations are the object, and who fall under the duration. In the case of the repatriates of Algeria, indeed, politization occurs initially « by the top », via a perception of the national interest by controlling, in a context where it is a question of maintaining the harmony; then « by bottom », in a situation marked by the wars of Algerian memories, where several groups of individuals request political power an arbitration in favour of their identity claims and/or their interests, through various repertories of political action.

This publication describes the evolution of the notion of repatriation which developed in the middle of the nineteenth century, and was later fortified by protections instituted by the nation- state towards its members. While first utilised to aid destitute travellers with their return to France, one century later, this policy had taken on a new meaning: the policy of repatriation was used to aid individuals returning from the newly emancipated colonies. The apogee of this public policy was reached with the return of French people to the metropolis in 1962 at the independence of Algeria. For these individuals, this policy facilitated the recovery of socio-professional status.

This text deals with the narrative uses and the construction of filiation among the Pieds-noirs of Algeria, also called repatriates of Algeria. I will explore how these narratives present a problematical relationship with the past, which can no longer be seen as a resource of identity. The resurgences of the exile, an event that is both individual and collective in its nature, highlight this relation, depicting the history of Pieds-noirs like a double rupture, provoked by the immigration of the ascendants to Algeria and the exile from Algeria in 1962. This allows us to grasp the categories on which the Pieds-noirs have build the internal representations of their past, unified and simplified by memories.

For a few years, a clear evolution can be observed in the way the former "harkis" _ meaning members of the indigenous population (Muslim by religion and either Arabic or Berber-speaking) who joined the French army as auxiliary soldiers at the time of the Algerian War of Independence and found safety only at the price of exile in france afterwards — and their children mobilize themselves in the " public sphere ", evolution marked by the 'judiciarization ' of their claims. Indeed, mainly since the summer 2001, associative actors multiplied legal actions. These actions (action for defamation, « apologie de crime de guerre » or « crime against humanity and complicity »), with the difference of the traditional contentious procedures launched to settle disagreements between private individuals, have a clearly claiming optics, which breaks with the normal course of justice: the idea is not only to make justice but also, and perhaps especially, to foster memory. The court is used here as a political and media forum, and what is expressed there does not have vocation to remain confined, quite to the contrary. These actions occur in a context where, beyond this specific example, it is the whole of memory conflicts relating to the Algerian war of Independence which seek in this « legal forum » a new outlet. This concomitance clearly testifies that the recourse to the legal third party seems from now on a strong method of political management and uses of the memory of the Algerian war of Independence. But what does this sudden and overall request for legal institution intermediation mean more than forty years after the conclusion of the ceasefire agreements? Is it possible to speak of an « abuse » of justice in this respect ?

Disappointed by the lack of results of existing Pieds-Noirs associations, several militants decided, in 1999, to ally and create a brand new organization, the PPN or Parti Pied-Noir. Their ultimate aim was to obtain the recognition of the historical and cultural particularity of the Pieds-Noirs community. To do so, they first tried to gain the recognition of their difference and the subsequent right of expression and representation. In this process, their action shows a very strong European dimension, because the European scene is viewed by the PPN as particularly favourable to its fight and demands : first, the PPN reinvests the multiple European origins of the Pieds-Noirs' community, melted in a French identity; second, the European scene seems to offer real opportunities for regional identities, at least over the medium term. Willing to distance itself from some extremist actions by former Pieds-Noirs' leaders, PPN's leaders favour also a classical way of political commitment, especially through frequent participations in elections.

This paper focuses on Pieds-Noirs' variety of opinions between the ages. It examines Algerian war effects on vote. It allows us to observe realignment theory applications and mechanisms which have an impact on political representations this group.

This paper aims to examine how, and to what extent, the process of Europeanization has affected the reshaping of territorial representation in Italy. To reply to this research question, we considered how European Cohesion Policy and structural funds exercise a potential influence over the key dimensions of representation by providing regions with the opportunity to strengthen their roles as both « actors » and « arenas » of representation. Empirical research conducted through interviews and the analysis of documents in all twenty Italian regions revealed how each region has reacted to structural funds in a distinctive way due to different internal factors, such as the legacy of pre-existing policy styles and political structures, and the attitudes of the political/administrative elite. The paper shall discuss this point in detail, by focusing on the changes that occurred (or did not occur) at the regional level in light of the aforementioned dimensions of representation.

Elections in authoritarian regimes are meant not to manage horizontal solidarity but rather to install a group of representatives that will allow the leadership to institutionalize a relative and limited form of pluralism. On the occasion of the 1969 elections in Portugal, the inclusion within the electoral lists of the official single party (Uniáo Nacionál) of individuals who had previously distinguished themselves by taking critical positions with respect to the regime fit into the plans of the head of government Marcelo Caetano. The goal of the present article is to analyze the politics that surrounded and followed from the appearance of this group, which is still known under the label Ala Liberal and embodied at the time what we might think of as a semi-democratic opposition. The consequences of this process are not apparent at the level of the policies publicly defended by the government or of legislative texts adopted into law. Rather, the effects were indirect and many were unexpected— in particular the consolidation of a political clan, favorable to democratization, one whose networks reached within the state and its institutions as well as out into civil society.

The increase of « negative » vote is generally explained by the success of blackmail parties (populist or marginal) the last twenties years. This vote seems effectively represent a new electoral age of political modernity. Moreover, the party system on the whole is touched by the protest phenomenon whatever the electoral environment. The political parties at large electorally benefit to « negative » attitude development. Therefore, this vote appears to be as a moment of anti- party sentiment not as a democracies functions criticism.