​This study examines the 2019 Ḥirāk movement in Algeria using a trans-disciplinary perspective spanning the sociology of social movements, comparative politics, and international relations. It compares the Ḥirāk to the two waves of Arab Spring uprisings (2011 and 2019), using the "Algerian exception" narrative as an analytical tool. The paper examines this narrative's arguments and debates its limitations. This approach allows for an understanding of the Ḥirāk's local particularity that distinguishes it from other Arab uprisings and permits its recontextualization as part of a regional social phenomenon with transnational dynamics and subsequent repercussions.