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Attempts to understand the wider context of the Arab uprisings in Morocco mainly focus on the dynamic created by the 20 February Movement, while the long history of increasing socio-economic struggle tends to be underestimated. This article argues that the political and democratic protests of the last two years and the history of socio-economic protests cannot be viewed as unrelated phenomena but must be understood as part of the same process. The account focuses on different disturbances, such as the riots in the phosphate mining region of Khouribga, to show the particular dynamic between civil democratic and socio-economic struggles.
[La révolte des petites villes : l'analyse de l'histoire et la géographie des contestations sociales au Maroc.] Les analyses de la situation marocaine dans le contexte des révoltes arabes ont eu tendance à se focaliser sur la dynamique créée par le Mouvement du 20 février et à négliger d'autres luttes, à caractère socioéconomique. Cet article considère que les protestations politiques et démocratiques des deux dernières années, d'un côté, et les protestations socioéconomiques, de l'autre, doivent être analysées comme relevant du même processus. La démonstration aborde différents cas, à l'instar des émeutes dans la région phosphatière de Khouribga, qui permettent d'illustrer la dynamique particulière qui s’établit entre causes civiles-démocratiques et causes socioéconomiques.
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank Montserrat Emperador. Much of the fieldwork presented here has been conducted with her and this article has benefited greatly from our discussions. Furthermore, I would like to thank Christopher Parker, Sylvie Janssens, Marieke Krijnen and Sami Zemni for their insightful comments on an earlier version of this paper. I would also like to thank all the contacts and friends in Morocco who supported me while I conducted fieldwork for this article and specifically Souad, Bouchra, Khalil, Aziz, Hamza and Laarbi. Finally, I would like to thank Marieke Krijnen for the map. I remain solely responsible for the arguments presented here and any remaining errors of facts or reasoning.
Note on contributor
Koenraad Bogaert is a post-doctoral researcher in the Middle East and North Africa Research Group (MENARG) at Ghent University. His research is centred around the broader question of political change in the Arab world, more specifically Morocco, in relation to globalisation, neoliberal urbanisation and capitalist uneven development.