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The Dynamics of Contention in Morocco: Youth Mobilization and Demobilization
Abstract
During the past decade, sustained actions of protests in different parts of Morocco have been expressed through peaceful means. Popular mobilization has occured mainly outside formal spaces of participation, online and offline. Moroccans mobilize as groups of different kinds (as social movements, informal groups, professional groups, or simply as individuals). They make demands in response to both governmental action and inaction. For example they protest against social exclusion or in favor of more rights for a particular social or professional group. Myriad issues and diverse actors have driven the mobilizations. However, they all converge around social and economic rights, more civil liberties and more democracy and social justice. This paper will examine the dynamics of contention in Morocco with a focus on youth mobilization and demoblization during the past ten years. This is specifically an important phase in the nature of mobilisation because it followed the the February 20th movement as a Moroccan version of the Arab Spring. To capture the complex and multi-layered phenomena of mobilization and demoblization, this paper takes an approach that is informed by macro, meso and micro levels of analysis. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, I will look at the interplay between these different levels and their subsequent impact on the processes of mobilisation and demobilisation. I argue that frequent popular mobilization are indicative of how the power of existing structures and agencies is questioned and that there is a long term risk of instability in Morocco.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
None
Sub Area
19th-21st Centuries