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Paper short abstract:

This paper intends to outline the negotiation frameworks of young people in post-Arab uprising' Morocco vis-à-vis the ruling elite. It argues that the specific structures of rentier economies are crucial to better understand Maghrebi societal dynamics and the youth's role within.

Paper long abstract:

The Arab uprisings mark a turning point in media's and academia's reflection on how ordinary people provoke change within authoritarian states. Especially youth were framed as driving force behind these protests and as hope for democratization of an entire region. However, the literature on young people's roles and agencies during the Arab uprisings seems to be lacking a discussion on the specific dynamics created by the regions' characteristic rentier economies.

In this regard, the case of Morocco is particularly interesting: Marginalized Moroccan youth, despite high youth unemployment rates and unfavourable socio-economic conditions, remain particularly silent, avoiding conflict with the ruling elite.

This paper is an explorative venue seeking to investigate the role of young people in the post-Arab uprisings' era. It aims at exploring inductively the interest dynamics between youth and the ruling elite, discussing young people's resilience vis-à-vis poor socio-economic conditions. The paper argues, that there are explicit and implicit links between relatively high regime stability and the inclusion of youth interests concerning the politics of rents distribution and their opportunities for economic participation. Using qualitative data and connecting literature discussions that remain quite separate until now, the goal is to outline the complex relationship between rents distribution, regime stability and youth that is key for better understanding the societal dynamics within rentier economies.