A New Morocco? Amazigh Activism, Political Pluralism and Anti–Anti-Semitism

For all the initial optimism about the rise of democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, the recent uprisings in the region (often termed "the Arab Spring") have come to be characterized in the West as a threat. European observers present the war in Libya, the broader instability in t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Brown journal of world affairs 2012-04, Vol.18 (2), p.129-140
Main Author: Silverstein, Paul A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Activists
Antisemitism
Arab states
Culture
Democracy
Dialects
East and West
Geopolitics
Indigenous Political Actors
Language policy
Libya
Minority & ethnic groups
Morocco
Native peoples
Political activism
Radicalism
Rebellions
Refugees
Religion
Revolution
Rural areas
Social justice
Society
Speaking
Threats
Tunisia
Women
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Summary:For all the initial optimism about the rise of democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, the recent uprisings in the region (often termed "the Arab Spring") have come to be characterized in the West as a threat. European observers present the war in Libya, the broader instability in the region, and the seemingly new and uncontrollable tide of refugees and migrants across the Mediterranean as veritable crises on Europe's southern frontier. Meanwhile, Western security officials fear that the power vacuums created by the fall of authoritarian regimes in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Yemen will create openings for "radical" Islamist groups and al-Qaeda affiliates in particular. In this essay the author will draw on the case of Morocco and the decades-long struggle for Berber/Amazigh rights to argue that the uprisings mark the culmination of a long fight for cultural and political inclusion that bodes well for the future of pluralism in the region.
ISSN:1080-0786
2472-3347