Struggles and Triumphs: Amazigh Constitutional Claims and Bureaucratic Disentitlement in Morocco
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
The term “Amazigh” refers to Indigenous people of North Africa. Colonialism, state oppression, and Arabization policies have suppressed Amazigh culture across history; today, through a series of struggles and triumphs, their cultural and linguistic rights are becoming variably recognized. This article uses an Indigeneity framing to explore the case of Morocco and practices of bureaucratic disentitlement to understand institutional interactions with the state that highlight how people are prevented from transforming statutory rights into tangible benefits. As a result of linguistic repression through French and Spanish colonialization and subsequent Arabization policies following independence in 1956, speakers of Tamazight (Amazigh language) often face steep barriers to social, educational, legal, economic, fiscal, and symbolic inclusion in Morocco. These struggles continue in efforts to teach the Amazigh language in schools, to integrate it in the court system, and see it included on national identity cards. Some judicial success has come in the realm of permitting traditional first names for children and in recognizing Amazigh language and its written script in banking conventions. Recently, the Amazigh New Year was declared a national holiday, while fluency in Tamazight is now recognized as fulfilling naturalization requirements for Moroccan citizenship. These triumphs are not only the result of political shifts but also decades of activist effort, both at home and in the diaspora, as international migration provides new “anchors” for Indigenous identity beyond those centered on the nation-state.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
International Law Review, v. 32, issue 1, p. 23-53
Scholar Commons Citation
Castaneda, Heide, "Struggles and Triumphs: Amazigh Constitutional Claims and Bureaucratic Disentitlement in Morocco" (2024). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 155.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/ant_facpub/155
