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Watered-Down Feminism: An Examination of Gender and Revolutionary Ideals in Morocco
Abstract
In the evolution of the February 20th Movement in Morocco, the group’s organizers developed a framework for gender parity that now pervades the Movement’s network. Gender parity is a new concept in Moroccan political activism. This chapter will underline the significance of gender parity in Moroccan political activism and outline how the February 20th Movement has institutionalized gender parity, signaling the importance of feminist ideals in shaping the political thinking of young Moroccan activists. As the February 20th Movement evolved, however, gender parity became accepted and submerged as the Movement migrated toward elevating broader human rights over gender equality alone. In turn, this more generalized approach occurred as the Movement was divorced from al-Adl wal-Ihsan and women’s rights NGOs. This trajectory can be compared to the evolution of American second- and third-wave feminism in the 1990s. The Movement’s position in a country in which culturally conservative forces dominate and its loss of momentum since the highpoint of Morocco’s “Arab Spring” can lead to questions about the significance of the Movement’s institutionalization of gender parity. However, I believe the social texture of the movement harbors developments that will play important roles in Morocco’s near future.
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
... The comparison of migration policy with other domestic public policies shows that migration is subject to a more integrative form of governance. For example, there is a strong associative activism focused on gender equality that may have driven social change, but it did not lead to a decisive response from the government (Ennaji, 2016;Lambert, 2017). In the case of migration, government representatives went so far as to organise, with civil society organisations, campaigns to attract and convince the hidden and reluctant migrants to regularise (Benjelloun, 2019). ...
As part of its new African integration policy, implemented under the reign of Mohammed VI, Morocco has developed a new migration policy. Traditionally, the Moroccan approach to migration was focused on the management of the Moroccan diaspora. Today, despite the low percentage of African migrants compared to European migrants in Morocco, special attention is paid to the regularisation of migrants coming from the South. The Kingdom of Morocco has therefore become an African migratory crossroads, not only for transit migration but also for incoming migration. While the European Union is trying to externalise the control of its borders to Maghreb countries, Morocco is striving to spread a positive and desecuritising discourse on migration to differentiate itself from Europe. This desire for differentiation is not an easy path, as this article demonstrates. It is motivated by the Moroccan will to affirm the African dimension of its identity and no longer be considered as a purely Arab-Muslim country looking to the Mediterranean region. To this end, Morocco has committed itself, as a ‘champion of migration’ within the African Union, to the dissemination of its own migration model over the continent and to the defence of an African vision of migration centred on continental mobility, promoting migration as a path to development and combating preconceived ideas about migration as a security problem. Overall, Morocco’s foreign policy in Africa has further encouraged sub-Saharan migration, which in turn has had many positive effects. In addition to the cosmopolitanisation of several Moroccan cities, the new migration policy seems to illustrate a boost in public policies and a willingness to overcome European normative transfers through diplomatic negotiation.
The February 20th movement shows new modes of engagement with feminism, despite a striking absence of feminist organizations from the protest movement. Nevertheless, and in sharp contrast with most accounts that posit the irrelevance of feminism for Moroccan youth's identifications and political subjectivities, I argue that feminism has not only penetrated the social imaginary of a new generation of activists, but has also informed their practices. What kind of tension does this appropriation of feminism by the youth of February 20th bring about with traditional feminist circles? Does this high visibility of women in February 20th indicate the rise of a new feminism? I will first briefly locate February 20th in a genealogy of feminist activism in Morocco showing places of friction, influence and tensions. Second, I will provide some indications of what I call a new feminism. Third, I will analyze the gender dynamics among the various components of February 20th, notably the secular and Islamist. I will conclude by sketching a new map of protests led by women and not necessarily intelligible under the old cartography of feminism.
Ever since its inception in the mid-forties of the last century, the Moroccan feminist movement has evolved around the family law Code. The post-independence family law denied women basic rights and thus fueled the disappointment and anger of the female intellectual elite (journalists, writers, politicians and activists). Legal rights have always constituted a priority in Moroccan women's struggle for dignity in and outside the home. These rights became central with women's increasing access to education and the job market. Today, women's legal rights are associated with democratization and political openness. This paper addresses these issues and underlines the impact of the family law in generating and accelerating feminist ideas in Morocco.
The “Middle East Partnership Initiative” (MEPI) is now the main framework for U.S. soft interventions in the Middle East. Established by the Republican administration in 2003, this program follows a rationale of political and economic reforms as a means to uproot terrorism and spread democracy. This article offers a content analysis of this program by questioning the assumptions behind the MEPI’s focus on “civil society” and “women’s empowerment” and by showing their significance to neoliberal regimes of pacification and securitization.
‘Intersectionality’ has now become a major feature of feminist scholarly work, despite continued debates surrounding its precise definition. Since the term was coined and the field established in the late 1980s, countless articles, volumes and conferences have grown out of it, heralding a new phase in feminist and gender studies. Over the past few years, however, the growing number of critiques leveled against intersectionality warrants us as feminists to pause and reflect on the trajectory the concept has taken and on the ways in which it has traveled through time and space. Conceptualizing intersectionality as a traveling theory allows for these multiple critiques to be contextualized and addressed. It is argued that the context of the neoliberal academy plays a major role in the ways in which intersectionality has lost much of its critical potential in some of its usages today. It is further suggested that Marxist feminism(s) offers an important means of grounding intersectionality critically and expanding intersectionality’s ability to engage with feminism transnationally.
Morocco is notable for its stable and durable monarchy, its close ties with the West, its vibrant cultural life, and its centrality to regional politics. This book, by distinguished historian, Susan Gilson Miller, offers a richly documented survey of modern Moroccan history. The author's original and astute interpretations, events, ideas, and personalities that inform contemporary political life are testimony to her scholarship and long association with the country. Arguing that pragmatism rather than ideology has shaped the monarchy's response to crisis, the book begins with the French invasion of Algeria in 1830 and Morocco's abortive efforts, reform, the duel with colonial powers and the loss of independence in 1912, the burdens and benefits of France's forty-four year dominion, and the stunning success, nationalist movement leading to independence in 1956. In the post-independence era, the book traces the monarchy's gradual monopolization of power and the resulting political paralysis, ending with the last years of Hassan II's reign, when Moroccan society experienced a sudden and radical opening. A postscript brings events up to 2012, covering topics such as Morocco's “war on terror,” the détente between the monarchy and the Islamists, and the impact, Arab Spring. This concise, readable book will inform and enthrall students coming to the history of North Africa for the first time, and also those in other disciplines searching for the background to present-day events, region.
An actor-centered approach to the gendering of urban spaces demonstrates how individuals respond to competing ideologies in determining the rules that surround women's presence in urban, Muslim spaces. This article examines how women in the Ville Nouvelle of Fes, Morocco draw on local conceptualizations of hospitality, kinship, and shame as they debate the gendering of four urban areas: the street, the café, a cosmopolitan exercise club, and cyber space. Women's tactics for occupying social space indicate the resilience of local culture in the face of ideologies that attempt to posit a specific vision of women in the Moroccan nation state. [Moroccan women, Islam, gender, public space, urban space, Middle East and North Africa]
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