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Narrating a New World: The Moroccan Marxist-Leninist Movement in the Post-Cold War Era
Abstract
This paper explores the political production of the Moroccan Marxist Leninist Movement (MMLM) following the end of the Cold War. Few studies have paid attention to that section of the Moroccan Left, and those that did have mostly focused their attention on the memoirs of key figures (El Guabli 2020), and on the cultural productions associated with the movement (Sefrioui 2013). This study proposes to focus on the oft-overlooked political production of these groups in the post-Cold War era. Through an analysis of the primary documents published and circulated by the MMLM groups/factions, this study identifies the narratives produced by these groups to make sense of the rapid and significant political transformations occurring at the global and regional level. It then traces the evolution of these narratives over time and across the newly emerged boundaries within the MMLM. The study also contextualizes that process of production and evolution, by situating it in relation to the struggles within the Moroccan Left field, as well as the position vis-à-vis the wider Political Field (Bourdieu 2000). This study of the MMLM contributes to the recent renewal of academic interest in the Arab Lefts (Bardawil 2020, Guirguis 2020). Firstly, it engages with the experience of the movement on its own terms, through its political production and the social dynamics and internal struggles that it reflects. Secondly, it expands the scope of analysis by going beyond the movement’s heyday in the Long Sixties and engaging with its experience and production in the era of triumphant neoliberalism, increasing schisms, and faltering belief in socialist projects.
Discipline
Sociology
Geographic Area
Morocco
Sub Area
Maghreb Studies