عنوان

Civil society and political change in Morocco

Number

TLets398565

Title Proper

Civil society and political change in Morocco

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Sater, James Nadim

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

Durham University

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2003

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

Durham University

Text preceding or following the note

2003

Text of Note

Since the early 1990s, Morocco has been undergoing a period of political changeand refonn. At the same time, Morocco witnessed an increased activity oforganisations of civil society, which have been able to initiate discourses on humanrights, women's rights and also Berber rights. As a result, political change has beenassociated with increasing political space that has been accorded to these non-stateactors. By focusing on the relationship between changing features of the Moroccanstate on the one hand, and increasing civil society activity on the other, this thesisaims to answer the question of whether organisations of civil society have constituteda factor in their own right that has contributed to political change in Morocco.While the general assumption is that increased civil society activity leads tochanges towards 'democracy', it is aimed to show that this assumption does notalways hold. Therefore, the concept of civil society will be coupled with that of thepublic sphere, in order to illustrate how increasing activity in the public sphere has animpact on policy makers without, however, forcing rulers to embrace full, Westemstyledemocracy. Consequently, far from considering the lack of civil society's'democratic' challenge to the regime as a default, it will be shown that this has beenone of civil society's most essential features and one which allowed it to rally forrights-oriented policies.

Sater, James Nadim

Durham University

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y