Morocco's invisible Imazighen

This paper asserts that Morocco's Imazighen (Berbers) are often ignored in current academic literature. When they are not ignored Berbers tend to be presented in historical or apolitical terms. This situation is in striking contrast to the French colonial fascination with Berbers, which was often expressly political; it is also at odds with contemporary Amazigh (Berber) activist contentions about the relevance of Berber identity politics. This paper suggests that undervaluing and misrepresenting Morocco's linguistic diversity skews our scholarly conceptualisation of the nation as a whole. This in turn stands to undermine governmental and non‐governmental policy, especially in terms of rural development and education.