The Vitality of Local Political Institutions in the Middle Atlas, Morocco

In the Middle Atlas, Morocco, growing government bureaucracy has not undermined the informal village council and the legitimacy of local functionaries such as shaykh or muqaddam. Although official or elected bodies may formally have de facto power, in practice the village council still controls access to local resources. Instead of being manipulated by the regional government bureaucracy, the village council continues to represent the common people. However, newcomers and educated folk hold different attitudes toward local institutions and functionaries which weaken them, giving government officials opportunity to intervene. (Village council, district council, regional government, herders, farmers, Middle Atlas, Morocco) ********** This article discusses the changes that have taken place in the local political institutions of the Ait Abdi Berbers of the Middle Atlas as a result of encroaching government bureaucracy. It addresses the Ait Abdi of the rural district (commune rurale) Oued Ifrane, which has a population of 14,500. The population's main source of livelihood is sheep farming. Formerly, sheep farmers practiced transhumance between summer and winter pastures, but now they are generally settled in the winter pastures: mountain valleys with a climate permitting the development of agriculture and arboriculture. This sedentarization has resulted in the growth of rural centers in the Middle Atlas, among them Souk el Had, the main center of Oued Ifrane, with about 4,350 inhabitants. Several researchers have argued that growing government bureaucracy and extension of the powers of government courts in Morocco have undermined local political institutions in administration and in settling disputes (Geertz, Geertz, and Rosen 1979:53-57; Chiapuris 1980:232-36). With reference to the Central Atlas, Ilahiane (1999:41) concludes that the government now has a presence in every domain, curtailing the influence of local and collective institutions, and constituting an extension of government bureaucracy. Hammoudi (1997) agrees that contemporary elective institutions have increased the power of the state in the rural areas of Morocco, and claims that the central government collaborated with the rural notables, the sons of those who, as caid (district officer; pl. cuwwad) or shaykh (subdistrict officer; pl. shuyukh) during the era of the French Protectorate, acquired large parcels of land and became local strongmen. These notables now participate in the patronage network of the monarchy and state. They came to be cuwwad or shuyukh or members of the district council in return for collaborating with state authorities. This point of view does insufficient justice to the value attached to autonomy by the Berber population, however. In the Middle Atlas, the sultan and his army hardly ever succeeded in levying tribute on the trading routes between Fez, Meknes, and Tafilalt, which was considered the prerogative of the Berber leaders themselves. Only by sending troops did the sultan obtain a share of the tribute, and then often for only a limited period and only if the Berber leaders were allowed to continue their practices (Venema 1993:165). In 1912, Sultan Moulay Hafid signed a treaty with the French authorities under which Morocco became a French protectorate. In an attempt to nullify the treaty, the Berbers of the Middle Atlas, among other tribes, besieged Fez. The liberation of Fez by the French army marked the start of the military campaign in Morocco under the leadership of Marshal Lyautey, which continued until 1934 (Julien 1978:88, 89). Following independence, the Berbers continued their search for autonomy. In the Middle Atlas and several other regions there was an uprising against the provincial governors and judges appointed by the new government. Generally from an urban and Arabic background, these officials largely ignored the problems of the rural population, their customary law, and the ambitions of their leaders (Gellner 1981:194-206; Coram 1973:271). …