DEPA - Algeria Béjaïa Province, Algeria

The objective of the research was to investigate how traditional Kabyle cultural practices, such as storytelling, poetry, and music, specifically medihs, contribute to fostering peace and community cohesion. The study aimed to document how these indigenous practices have been historically used to instil communal values, resolve conflicts, and maintain inter-communal harmony. The research engaged six Kabyle-speaking participants from the Kabyle community in Beni Maoush village, Béjaïa Province. They included elders, an artist, an imam, and an activist, all with extensive knowledge of local traditions and their transmission across generations.

The data highlights how traditional Kabyle art forms and embedded cultural customs have historically played a pedagogical role in promoting peace and instilling communal values of respect and cooperation within the Kabyle community. The captured narratives stress the urgency of preserving these oral traditions as essential tools for education and inter-communal dialogue in Algeria’s current context​. This item contains:

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The Algeria Project was a commissioned project in Phase 2 of The DEPA (Decolonising Education for Peace in Africa) Project. DEPA was a 4-year project funded by the Arts and Humanities Council (AHRC) addressing the question: What are the different knowledges and values underpinning peace and how can these practices be connected and compared across countries to create curriculum content and mode of delivery in informal and formal settings, Secondary and Higher Education (HE), in order to decolonise peace education?