Public space security and contentious politics of Morocco’s Rif protests

Abstract

This article argues that mass protests across the Rif are rooted in the region’s socio-economic marginalization and historical and contemporary violence inflicted by the Moroccan state onto what constitutes an area of challenged state authority. The legacy of the heavily repressive approach of the Moroccan regime toward the region nurtured a collective memory of injustice and alienation among Rifians, which deepened their distrust in the Moroccan state. The emergence of the Hirak al-Shaʿbi (Popular Movement) in Al Hoceima province, following the death of a fishmonger crushed in a garbage truck, strengthened the irredentism of people’s activism and empowered the movement’s regionalist identity. Faced with further securitization of public space from central powers, Hirak has forged a strong autonomy from both the region’s public authorities as well as the regime’s elites, all of which has boosted Hirak’s legitimacy among activists and the region’s population. Hirak’s innovative modus operandi in accessing physical public sites has succeeded in transforming the interaction between society and public authorities and has shown that people can claim their rights to public space without the state’s prior consent.