Paper short abstract:

This article analyzes the dynamics and strategies of co-optation of civil society deployed by the Moroccan regime to reconfigure its authoritarian system and adapt it to emerging challenges. Particular attention will be paid to these dynamics and their effects on the Berber’s population protest.

Paper long abstract:

Different socio-political pacts have been promoted by the Moroccan monarchy after independence. This kind of pacts have been a tool in the hands of the regime to promote different alliances in those moments when its legitimacy has been contested. They have aimed at preserving the crown’s hegemonic position within the political system through stimulating and promoting changes from within, and including certain segments of society, demands and political forces over others. The incorporation into the institutional sphere through these pacts have entailed an important transformation of the Moroccan opposition structure, insofar as inclusion in the system automatically implies the moderation of the discourse and the acceptance of the limits of dissidence established by the regime However, at the same time, they have also meant a parallel modification of the cost of participation and the structure of political opportunity, opening the public space for those social and political forces that decide to take part in the process.

Mohammed VI's accession to the throne led to a new social pact that sought to respond to some of the pressing problems identified by the monarchy, such as the discredit of traditional politics. To face these challenges and preserve and enhance the king’s monopoly within the economic and political system, different strategies were adopted, including the co-opting of groups in civil society. This paper aims to analyze the effects that this cooptation strategy has had both for the civil society and the Morocco regimen thorugh the case study of Berber activism.