Marnia Lazreg (January 10, 1941 – January 13, 2024) was an Algerian academic. Her work focused on women in the Muslim world, with a particular focus on Algeria. ^{[1] [2]}

Lazreg was born in Mostaganem, and grew up in colonial Algeria, raising by her mother, a homemaker, and her father, a dry goods seller. ^{[1] [2]} As a child, she refused to wear a headscarf. ^[2] Lazreg was able to attend a school for French children, ^[2] and earned a French Baccalauréat in Philosophy and Mathematics in 1960, during the Algerian War of Independence. ^[3] Following the war, her family moved to Algiers, where she worked for the city's municipal administration. ^[2]

She went on to receive a Licence-ès-Lettres in English Literature from the University of Algiers in 1966. ^[3] After graduating, she began working for Sonatrach, and was sent to work at its New York office in 1967. ^[2] While working in New York, she attended New York University, earning her master's degree in 1970 and her PhD in sociology in 1974. ^{[2] [3]}

In the 1970s, while completing her dissertation about class differences in Algeria, ^[2] Lazreg began teaching sociology at Hunter College. ^[3] She published her first book, The Emergence of Classes in Algeria, in 1976, which was based on her dissertation. ^[2]

Over the next decade, she taught at Brooklyn College, Hampshire College, The New School, and Sarah Lawrence College, before returning to Hunter College in 1988 as a sociology professor. ^{[2] [3]}

In 1995, Lazreg spoke at the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women. ^[4]

From 1999 to 2000, Lazreg worked with the World Bank on programs which aimed to advance opportunities for women and girls. ^[2]

Her 2017 book, Foucault's Orient, argued that Foucault was biased toward Western intellectual traditions. ^[2]

In 2019, Lazreg published her first and only novel, The Awakening of the Mother, under the pen name Meriem Belkelthoum. The French-language novel was based on her childhood in Algeria. ^[2]

Lazreg retired in September 2023. ^[3]

Lazreg had two sons from a marriage with Mark Woodcock, whom she divorced. ^{[2] [3]} She died in Manhattan on January 13, 2024, at the age of 83, while undergoing treatment for cancer. ^{[1] [2]}

• The Emergence of Classes in Algeria (1976) ^{[1] [5] [6]}
• Lazreg, Marnia (1995). The Eloquence of Silence: Algerian Women in Question. Routledge. ISBN  978-1-351-86702-3. ^{[7] [8]}
• Lazreg, Marnia (2008). Torture and the Twilight of Empire: From Algiers to Baghdad. Princeton University Press. ISBN  978-0-691-17348-1. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12]}
• Questioning the Veil (2009) ^[13]
• Lazreg, Marnia (2017). Foucault's Orient: The Conundrum of Cultural Difference, From Tunisia to Japan. Berghahn Books. ISBN  978-1-78533-623-2. ^{[14] [15]}
• Lazreg, Marnia (2021). Islamic Feminism and the Discourse of Post-liberation: The Cultural Turn in Algeria. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. ISBN  978-1-351-80488-2.

• Lazreg, Marnia (1990). "Feminism and Difference: The Perils of Writing as a Woman on Women in Algeria". In Hirsch, Marianne; Keller, Evelyn Fox (eds.). Conflicts in Feminism. Routledge. ISBN  978-1-135-27525-9.
• Lazreg, Marnia (1994). "Women's Experience and Feminist Epistemology: A critical neo-rationalist approach". Knowing the Difference. Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203216125-5/women-experience-feminist-epistemology-marnia-lazreg (inactive 2024-06-23). ISBN  978-0-203-21612-5.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2024 ( link)
• Lazreg, Marnia (2000). "The Triumphant Discourse of Global Feminism: Should Other Women Be Known?". Going Global. Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315864235-3/triumphant-discourse-global-feminism-women-known-marnia-lazreg (inactive 2024-06-23). ISBN  978-1-315-86423-5.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2024 ( link)
• Lazreg, Marnia (2000). "Citizenship and Gender in Algeria". In Joseph, Saud (ed.). Gender and Citizenship in the Middle East. Syracuse University Press. ISBN  978-0-8156-2865-1.
• Lazreg, Marnia (2008). "Consequences of Political Liberalization and Sociocultural Mobilization for Women in Algeria, Egypt and Jordan". Governing Women. Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203892503-5/consequences-political-liberalization-sociocultural-mobilization-women-algeria-egypt-jordan-marnia-lazreg (inactive 2024-06-23). ISBN  978-0-203-89250-3.{{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of June 2024 ( link)

• Lazreg, Marnia (1983). "The Reproduction of Colonial Ideology: The Case of the Kabyle Berbers". Arab Studies Quarterly. 5 (4): 380–395. ISSN  0271-3519. JSTOR  41857696.
• Lazreg, Marnia (1990). "Gender and Politics in Algeria: Unraveling the Religious Paradigm". Signs. 15 (4): 755–780. doi: 10.1086/494627.
• Lazreg, Marnia (1998). "Islamism and the Recolonization of Algeria". Arab Studies Quarterly. 20 (2): 43–58. ISSN  0271-3519. JSTOR  41858247.