This book seeks to determine the impact of colonialism on the evolution of social classes in Algeria from 1830 to the present, and to analyze the relationship between classes and political and economic development. Colonialism is viewed as a mode of production which resulted in the distortion of the indigenous socio-economic configurations and led to a particular form of political alliance culminating in the creation of the F.L.N. The evolution of the latter, the achievement of independence, and the establishment of a new power structure are examined in the light of class antagonisms. The Algerian form of socialism is interpreted as the outcome of the struggle between the petite bourgeoisie and the technocracy. The role of the Party, of the bureaucracy, and of ideology in a selected number of political measures indicated the existence of a specific pattern of social development which may not be grasped by the conventional tools of analysis. The major conclusion of the book is that societies such as Algeria present the observer with a reality for which a new mode of theorizing is needed.