MESA Banner
Imagining the State through Urban Protest
Abstract
In the 1990s, the Moroccan Monarchy set out on the path of political and economic reform. This path, the so-called Moroccan alternance, accelerated with the accession to the throne of Mohammed VI. Nevertheless, most observers acknowledge that liberalization didn’t result in genuine democratization. Given that the Moroccan political system remains largely dominated by the Monarchy, the process of democratization has understandably been depicted as cosmetic, a façade and top-down. However, this doesn’t mean that we cannot distinguish some real changes concerning political opposition and politics on the ground. The so-called ‘authoritarian regime’ in Morocco underwent radical changes and a new hegemonic class dominates Moroccan state politics. Responding to the perceived contingencies and opportunities associated with globalization and world market integration, the dominant Moroccan class has established and defended the boundaries of “new state spaces”. Concurrently, other social forces are also active in articulating the rationality of the state within these spaces, provoking new forms of opposition in the process. This paper elaborates on some of these oppositional forms that have arisen since the 1990s. Social movements like the diplômés chômeurs (unemployed graduates) and the tansikyat (coordination against the expensiveness of life) will be discussed in detail. Evidence will be drawn from extensive fieldwork. Despite the fact that recent elections were a worrisome demonstration of absenteeism, the country witnessed an exponential growth of social protest. It is our intention, therefore, to step outside the regime focus and explore how social protest emerges in a neoliberal environment targeting not only the classical notion of ‘the state’ but also how they relate to the new regulatory arrangements that have emerged with Morocco’s increasing integration in the space of the global market.
Discipline
Political Science
Geographic Area
Morocco
Sub Area
Political Economy