Amazigh

Names and etymology

The term "Berber" as a collective label has been the subject of scholarly debate. The historian Ramzi Rouighi argues that Berbers began to be referred to collectively only after the Arab conquests of the 7th century, and that the term's modern usage carries problematic historical baggage. However, Rouighi's treatment of the term "Amazigh" has been criticized for oversimplifying its historical distribution and dismissing it as a colonial invention without adequately engaging with its use as an endonym in many regions long before modern nationalism. Today, many consider the term "Berber" pejorative and prefer "Amazigh" instead, due to its problematic history as an exonym and its equivalence with the Arabic word for "barbarian". Since the late 20th century, a trans-national movement – known as Berberism or the Berber Culture Movement – has emerged among various parts of the Berber populations of North Africa to promote a collective Amazigh ethnic identity and to advocate for greater linguistic rights and cultural recognition.