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Djamila Boupacha
ByPublisher Description
A searing denunciation of French torture in Algeria by a classic feminist intellect
In 1960, as the Algerian War for Independence entered its sixth year, 22-year-old Djamila Boupacha was arrested for allegedly planting a bomb in a university cafeteria. While in custody, she was tortured and raped by French soldiers. Her case would have been buried like countless others had it not been for the efforts of her lawyer, Gisèle Halimi, and the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir to transform it into an international cause célèbre. Djamila Boupacha is the culmination of this campaign to expose the systemic violence of colonial rule. “To protest in the name of morality against ‘excesses’ or ‘abuses,’” Beauvoir writes, “is an error which hints at active complicity. There are no ‘abuses’ or ‘excesses’ here, simply an all-pervasive system.”
More than a historical document, the book is a profound exploration of morality, complicity and resistance. A classic text of anticolonialism, this is a story that demands to be read—and remembered.
In 1960, as the Algerian War for Independence entered its sixth year, 22-year-old Djamila Boupacha was arrested for allegedly planting a bomb in a university cafeteria. While in custody, she was tortured and raped by French soldiers. Her case would have been buried like countless others had it not been for the efforts of her lawyer, Gisèle Halimi, and the philosopher Simone de Beauvoir to transform it into an international cause célèbre. Djamila Boupacha is the culmination of this campaign to expose the systemic violence of colonial rule. “To protest in the name of morality against ‘excesses’ or ‘abuses,’” Beauvoir writes, “is an error which hints at active complicity. There are no ‘abuses’ or ‘excesses’ here, simply an all-pervasive system.”
More than a historical document, the book is a profound exploration of morality, complicity and resistance. A classic text of anticolonialism, this is a story that demands to be read—and remembered.
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About Simone De Beauvoir
Simone De Beauvoir is one of the best known French philosophers of the 20th century.
Gisèle Halimi is a major figure, owing to her career as a courageous defense attorney and feminist activist. Her death in 2020 was widely noted in the international press, with obituaries in the New York Times, Washington Post, etc.
Gisèle Halimi is a major figure, owing to her career as a courageous defense attorney and feminist activist. Her death in 2020 was widely noted in the international press, with obituaries in the New York Times, Washington Post, etc.
Other books by Simone De Beauvoir
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