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French ontological security and the Algerian War

This article was written by Britt Leake
This article was published on

In this short video extract, Britt Leake discusses the key arguments from his new Review of International Studies article - French ontological security and the Algerian War

 

Want to know more? You can read the full article at DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0260210525000208

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Abstract

A desire to preserve its ontological security was crucial in France’s decision to leave Algeria. France neither militarily lost the Algerian War (1954–62), nor were the financial costs of war too burdensome to bear. Instead, the contradictions between two narrative strands of France’s sense of self – liberal-democratic universalism and white European ethnonationalism – came unravelled, sparking a crisis of ontological security. These two narrative strands were rewoven together around the decision to leave Algeria, which saved France from facing a true reckoning about its sense of self and the dynamics of colonialism that had pushed France to create a racial hierarchy that contradicted French republican values. Algeria shows that ontological security can be preserved by using narrative strands to create the impression of stability amid profound changes. Additionally, in critical situations during periods of great global political change, shedding certain role-identities (such as being a colonial power) can help states recover ontological security. France’s pivot away from its colonial empire under President Charles de Gaulle is an example of such a transition away from a specific role-identity that was narrated in such a way that it actually – and paradoxically – projected stability.

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