Danly

Omil-Lima Moroccan Culture and Society 10/3/12 Weekly Reading Response In his article titled Conclusion: The Dynamics of Reform in Morocco, Willis explains that Morocco has undertaken a program of socio-political reform that fit into a coherent series that consistently targets important areas of interest. This is, to some extent, in contrast with what Joffe details in The Arab Spring in North Africa: origins and prospects. Namely, he describes the tendency of regimes in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt to make sporadic liberal concessions, in order to bolster their weakening hold over their respective countries. Joffe also argues that these concessions, and the opening up of space for political participation, actually become the mechanism of demise for these regimes. Looking specifically at Morocco, Willis explains that recent reforms are at least as much directed at an external as a domestic audience, citing Moroccos dependence on income from Europe. It is interesting to hold these two different models in mind. On the one hand, we have a Tunisian-Libyan-Egyptian model, where socio-political reform (or at least the illusion of reform) is used as a tool with which to veil the underlying governmental irresponsiveness and the lack of opportunity for political participation. And on the other hand, there is a Moroccan model, within which regime legitimacy is often not an issue, because of its accepted association with Islam, but the powers-that-be nonetheless face pressures to modernize (truly, westernize). Last weeks article on youth rappers and rap music as a form of resistance, provides one clear example of this trend towards liberalization and opening up of political spaces. That article described specifically how the Moroccan government, faced with this new form of protest that was easy to disseminate and difficult to censor discretely (over the internet), adapted by actually opening a niche for these rappers to express themselves. But do they really do this? In the eyes of some critics, what they were able to accomplish was to create new political space only on paper. In actuality, state-funded rap concerts, and the like, empowered the government to better control and censor the message that these rappers originally sought to put forward. Whats more, it gave the government the opportunity to inject its own brand of artists, rapping about national pride. This is clearly and example of what Joffe describes as tactical concessions that preserve the essential prerogatives of the existing power-structures. And as Joffe explains, history has proven these concessions not so tactical after all. Whether this will prove to be the case in Morocco remains to be seen. Thematic Questions: 1. In The Arab Spring in North Africa: origins and prospects, Joffe explains that Algeria and Morocco represent two special cases where, despite similar economic and political climatesnamely, dissatisfaction associated with lack economic opportunity and political participationuprisings were avoided

due to fear stemming from memories of violent civil war (Algeria) and widespread acceptance of the legitimacy of the ruling monarchy (Morocco). However, the author also explains that both countries have engaged in liberal concession in the same fashion seen in Tunisia and Egypt. Do you think that there are other markers that suggest that what happened in Tunisia and Egypt could happen in Morocco? What kind of precipitating events would be required in Morocco for widespread resistance to take hold and are these events too far out of statistical possibility to ever happen? 2. Given that the Egyptian army has maintained command of that countryto the disappointment of activists who had hoped for a different outcomeby using ex-President Mubarak as a scapegoat, to what extent is democracy truly a possibility in Egypt? Is the situation really any different now that Mubarak was ousted? Or is the root cause of Egypts problem still alive and well? 3. In Conclusion: The Dynamics of Reform in Morocco, Willis argues that Moroccan reforms seek to transform significant aspects of its economy, politics, and society, whilst simultaneously seeking to accommodate certain countervailing tendencies in favor of the maintenance of the status quo. To what extent can a government pick and chose which of its citizens demands it responds to and what are the types of demands that you think would be most important to citizens of Morocco and other countries of the Arab world? Ex: Womens rights, Religious pluralism, etc.