State capitalism and the agricultural sector: aspects of political and economic development of Algeria

Abstract

This thesis aims to examine some aspects of Algerian state capitalism and to situate it within a theoretical context derived from similar experiences in the Third World. The main emphasis has been placed on the state's policies towards agriculture, the most socially, economically, and politically important sector in Algerian society. The thesis looks at state capitalism in general as a transitional phase which, although involving approaches identified by some writers as 'socialist', leads ultimately to the development of 'conventional' capitalism. Algeria is viewed as a country which, despite having had the opportunity to erase much of its past and to reconstruct its economy on entirely new lines, has ended up developing according to capitalist laws. This development is traced to the nature of the socio-political forces that took over the leadership of the anti-colonial struggle and subsequently of the Algerian state. The analysis extends to include various aspects of the National Liberation Movement under colonialism and its development after independence. The thesis then describes the main characteristics of the economy immediately before and after independence and the major steps taken towards social and economic reconstruction. The state's agrarian policies are considered in the context of the social and political objectives of the ruling strata. These include attitudes to the self-management movement as a whole and in agriculture in particular, and the various measures of agrarian reform applied in the private sector. The reform is viewed as an essential precondition of the full incorporation of the agricultural sector into the state capitalist economy.