Acknowledgments

My first debt of gratitude is to my parents, Parichehr and Hadi, who have lovingly supported me at every stage of this process. They encouraged a commitment to discipline and rigorousness that has fueled this project. My brother Mehdi has been a constant, steady stream of love and support that I am so grateful to always be able to lean on. My sister Mona has been right next to me cheering me on through all of the toughest moments of my life, including finishing this book and childbirth. Her sisterhood was the first I ever knew, and it sparked something so deep in me that I continue to seek it out and study it. I have been blessed with not one supportive family but two. I am grateful to Ilhan Cagri, Younos Mokhtarzada, and the Mokhtarzada family for their patience, understanding, and encouragement throughout this process.

I have been fortunate to have many excellent history teachers. At Richard Montgomery High School, I learned from Robert Thomas and Robert Hines, whose engaging pedagogy pulled me into a love of history as a teenager. At the University of Maryland, this excitement for history was nurtured in the classrooms of Madeline Zilfi, Julie Taddeo, Arthur Eckstein, David Sartorius, and Peter Wien. My friendships with many of them, as well as with David Libber, have made this project so much richer. This project was also born out of the intellectual community at Johns Hopkins, and the epicenter of that community for me is Todd Shepard. He has nurtured and encouraged my vision for this project for a decade now. For all those times he pushed me to write better, clearer, and stronger and refused to accept what I produced as good enough, I am (now) immensely grateful. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from Nathan Connolly and Judy Walkowitz. I miss Pier Larson, who provided so much thorough, invaluable feedback on this project. Nathan Marvin and Amira Rose Davis continue to inspire me and have become family.

I am indebted to the many archivists who made this project possible and treated me with patience and kindness as I tested the limits of the rules for researchers. I owe gratitude in particular to the archivists at the National Archives in Algiers as well as the Wilaya Archives in Algiers, Oran, and Constantine, many of whom helped me navigate their holdings with a special warmth. I thank Mohamed Benani of Beit Benani in Tunis for his kindness to both me and my husband. Many thanks to the John Kluge Center at the Library of Congress for the grant that allowed me to complete this book. This project would not have been possible without my Arabic teachers and tutors, and especially May Rostam. Thank you to Siham Eldadah for the excellent discussions and Arabic help in the final days of finishing this book. No words are sufficient to express my gratitude to Fatma Zohra Benaik and Dahbia Lounas, who agreed to talk with me about their lives and whose oral interviews add texture to this book, and I thank Sarah Djebli and Sumi Dabaoui for making those connections possible.

I owe a debt of gratitude to several intellectual communities. Morgan State University has offered me a supportive scholarly home base, and I am particularly indebted to Brett Berliner for his ongoing support. The Women Historians of the Middle East have offered sisterhood and mentorship. This book was made much better by the thorough feedback offered by James McDougall, Marylin Booth, Beth Baron, and Judith Tucker. I am also very grateful to my family of fellow scholars of Algeria. I am grateful to be in community with fellow scholars of Algeria and friends, Sam Anderson, Muriam Haleh Davis, Sarah Ghabrial, Liz Perego, Terry Peterson, and Chris Silver. From the early days of this project, Arthur Asseraf has helped me develop my ideas in critical ways, whether during lunches shared at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, on long walks in Paris, or on patient international phone calls while my kids play loudly in the background. When I’ve lost faith, he has reminded me of the urgency of this work. Every chapter of this book has benefited from his advice.

Many incredible women have supported me on this journey. My friendship with Lindsey Stephenson has been a welcome reminder of the fullness of life beyond this book and academia. Beeta Baghoolizadeh, my rock jan, has been a steady support in my corner helping me navigate the decisions of not only this book but also my career. Sadiqeh Agah, Anais Eslami, Behnaz Haddadi, Yasmina Khan, and Nayereh Paterrov have continually offered encouragement, love, and sisterhood throughout this project and beyond. Amira Rose Davis’s friendship has nourished me as both a scholar and a mother. Marcia Chatelain, Sara Saljoughi, and Neda Maghbouleh have offered thoughtful advice and support at critical moments. I thank Maryam Asgari for her constant love, support, and encouragement.

Writing, revising, and finishing this book while on a four-four teaching load with two small children would not have been possible without Idris. I thank him for believing in my vision for not just this project but my career and the world I want to live in. May the future be feminist for Yara, Raha, and all of us.