Editing Albert Camus (section)

==Role in Algeria==
[[File:Départements français d'Algérie 1934-1955 map-fr.svg|thumb|alt=Map of French Algeria showing its administrative organization between 1905 and 1955 |Administrative organization of [[French Algeria]] between 1905 and 1955]]

Born in Algeria to French parents, Camus was familiar with the [[institutional racism]] of France against Arabs and Berbers, but he was not part of a rich elite. He lived in very poor conditions as a child, but was a citizen of France and as such was entitled to citizens' rights; members of the country's Arab and Berber majority were not.{{sfn|Carroll|2007|pp=3–4}}

Camus was a vocal advocate of the "new Mediterranean Culture". This was his vision of embracing the multi-ethnicity of the Algerian people, in opposition to "Latiny", a popular pro-fascist and [[Antisemitism|antisemitic]] ideology among other ''[[pieds-noirs]]'' – French or Europeans born in Algeria. For Camus, this vision encapsulated the Hellenic humanism which survived among ordinary people around the Mediterranean Sea.{{sfn|Hayden|2016|p=141–143}} His 1938 address on "The New Mediterranean Culture" represents Camus's most systematic statement of his views at this time. Camus also supported the [[Blum–Viollette proposal]] to grant Algerians full [[French nationality law|French citizenship]] in a manifesto with arguments defending this assimilative proposal on radical egalitarian grounds.{{sfn|Hayden|2016|p=145}} In 1939, Camus wrote a stinging series of articles for the {{lang|fr|Alger républicain}} on the atrocious living conditions of the inhabitants of the [[Kabylie]] highlands. He advocated for economic, educational, and political reforms as a matter of emergency.{{sfn|Sharpe|2015|p=356}}

In 1945, following the [[Sétif and Guelma massacre]] after Arabs revolted against French mistreatment, Camus was one of only a few mainland journalists to visit the colony. He wrote a series of articles reporting on conditions and advocating for French reforms and concessions to the demands of the Algerian people.{{sfn|Foley|2008|pp=150–151}}

When the Algerian War began in 1954, Camus was confronted with a moral dilemma. He identified with the ''pieds-noirs'' such as his own parents and defended the French government's actions against the revolt. He argued the Algerian uprising was an integral part of the "new [[Arab imperialism]]" led by Egypt and an "anti-Western" offensive orchestrated by Russia to "encircle Europe" and "isolate the United States".{{sfn|Sharpe|2015|p=322}} Although favoring greater Algerian [[self-governance|autonomy]] or even federation, though not full-scale independence, he believed the ''pieds-noirs'' and Arabs could co-exist. During the war, he advocated a civil truce that would spare the civilians. It was rejected by both sides, who regarded it as foolish. Behind the scenes, he began working for imprisoned Algerians who faced the death penalty.{{sfn|Foley|2008|p=161}} His position drew much criticism from the left and later postcolonial literary critics, such as [[Edward Said]], who were opposed to European imperialism and charged that Camus's novels and short stories are plagued with colonial depictions – or conscious erasures – of Algeria's Arab population.{{sfn|Amin|2021|pp=31–32}} In their eyes, Camus was no longer the defender of the oppressed.{{sfn|Carroll|2007|pp=7–8}}

Camus once said that the troubles in Algeria "affected him as others feel pain in their lungs".{{sfn|Sharpe|2015|p=9}}