Shaping the Humanities

In his examination of the rise and fall of the public sphere, Jürgen Habermas defines its historical trajectory as an unfinished democratization process. Yet from a normative perspective, he emphasizes the critical effect and emancipatory ideal of this term. This critical approach may also be fruitful within a different context: Morocco as a case study.

Civil Society as Public Sphere against the State

In his theory of communicative action, Habermas criticizes the concept of civil society, which had previously been examined by Hegel and Marx. The new meaning he gives the concept is connected to yet another concept; the public sphere, especially the political one. Habermas does not deal with the role of civil society in terms of economics, but rather politically. In other words, he focuses on the democratization process. Moreover, he situates the public sphere as an intermediate system between citizens, on the one hand; and policy makers, on the other. Opinions crystallized through public discussions are for Habermas signs for a new legitimacy.




In my contribution, I shall use James Sater’s term “civil society as a public sphere” to demonstrate the powerful role of civil society organizations in Morocco’s decision-making process. Through such an approach, these organizations can be considered a new power in the public sphere, which allows people to act freely and independently from the state. According to Habermas, the public sphere is an arena of discourse in modern societies, where individuals discuss issues of general interest. This arena is ideally a free and unrestricted place for rational communication (cf. Nancy Fraser, p. 148). Moreover, this public sphere is open to all interested participants who wish to present their opinions.

In her interpretation of Habermas' theory of the public sphere, Fraser distinguishes between the weak and strong public sphere. According to her, the weak public sphere is constituted by civil society, and is capable of shaping public opinion, yet does not have the power of a binding law. The second is the strong public sphere, which is within the state apparatus and leads to sovereign decisions (cf. Nancy Fraser, p. 151)

In a comparison between the weak and strong public sphere, Habermas distinguishes between communicative and administrative power. On the basis of this distinction, in his book "Between Facts and Norms", he defends the law as an appropriate tool for the translation of communicative power into administrative power. This translation is the result of the influence of the weak over the strong public sphere.




Civil Society and the Public Sphere in Morocco

In his book "Civil Society and Political Change in Morocco", James Sater presents a historical overview of the concept of civil society in Morocco. In his opinion, the first phase lasted from the 16th Century until 1984, whilst the second phase lasted from 1985 to 2003. According to Sater, the concept of the public sphere had not existed during the first period, which he terms the old system. It is worth mentioning, however, that James Sater defends the limited role of Ulema in Moroccan civil society, because in his words, the concept of the public sphere had not existed yet (cf. James N. Sater, 2007, p. 26).

Despite the disappointment over the lack of a critical public sphere in that first stage, it continues to be a goal for the Moroccan elite and movements.

One might posit, however, that a new phase of civil society is slowly generating the emergence of a critical Moroccan public sphere. This was made possible by activists in political parties, who founded organizations to promote civil society and defend their rights. Furthermore, most organizations in the areas of human rights, women's rights and cultural and linguistic rights were independent of political parties. This new power of civil society is always defined as an opposition to the state which endeavors to exert strong pressure on the political system.

In this context, organizations such as The Moroccan Organization of Human Rights, The Moroccan Association of Human Rights and Transparency International are paradigmatic of this trend. Most organizations that were founded in the eighties and nineties were fighting against violations of human rights, corruption, and violence against women; that is to say, they focused on areas considered taboo in the Moroccan public sphere.

The Tamazight Movement in the Moroccan Public Sphere

The Tamazight Movement consists of organizations and associations that promote cultural and linguistic rights of the Imazighen. One of their goals is to promote an awareness of Imazighen culture and identity. For political reasons, this culture has been marginalized in Morocco for a long time.

The Moroccan Association of Research and Cultural Exchange is the first NGO representing Berber civil society. It was founded in Rabat in 1967, and has opened several branches in Fez, Marrakech, Agadir, Casablanca, etc. Today it is considered to be the most important organization in the Moroccan public sphere that deals with the rights of Imazighens. Brahim Akheyat, a teacher of mathematics, founded the association and was its president from 1967 to 1978.

The Agadir Declaration of 1991 and the Tamazight Mobility Turn

The charter of Agadir is regarded in the history of the Tamazight movement as a manifesto of its fight for cultural rights. It was signed by six major associations: The Moroccan Association for Research and Cultural Exchange, the Association of the Summer University in Agadir, The Aghris Cultural Association in Goulmima, and Allmas Association for Culture in Nador, the New Association for Culture, the Popular Arts in Rabat and The Cultural Association of Sous in Casablanca.

According to Habermas’ definition of the public sphere, all these associations represent the weak public sphere in the fight for Tamazight cultural rights. They consider the Agadir Charter as a framework for all associations in Morocco to work towards this goal. This Charter is a composite of the debate between all members of the Tamazight Movement. The following propositions are part of the path towards founding an Institute of Tamazight Studies and Research. The integration of the Tamazight language in all spheres of life: for example, in the educational system, the media, the judicial system and the constitutionalization of the Tamazight language. Some of these propositions have been achieved.

The Output of Tamazight Civil Society as a Communicative Power

The National Charter for Education and Training was adopted during the academic year 1999-2000. The aim of this Charter was to reconstruct the Moroccan educational system and sponsor the implementation of a new policy. Under the slogan: “Openness to the Tamazight Culture,” this Charter emphasized the need for regional educational authorities to use Tamazight or other local dialects, along with the official language, to facilitate teaching the official language.

After the accession of King Mohamed VI to the throne, the political climate in Morocco had changed. The new king introduced reforms to distinguish his reign from that of his father. In a speech from the throne in Ajdir, he recognized the Tamazight culture as a national heritage and announced the creation of the «Royal Institute of Tamazight Culture." The establishment of such an institute was one of the main propositions of the Charter of Agadir. Furthermore, within the context of the so-called Arab Spring, and under pressure from the Movement of the Twentieth of February, the Moroccan King Mohamed VI famously declared on 9 March 2011 the constitutional amendments. Accordingly, the Tamazight movements presented their demands to the Royal Commission named by the King. This commission had the task of collating ideas from the Moroccan public sphere in order to introduce it in the new constitution. The final version of the new constitution emphasizes in article 5, for the first time in the history of Morocco, the constitutional right of the Tamazight language to exist alongside Arabic as the official languages in Morocco. Nonetheless, the Tamazight Movement is still fighting today for the implementation of this article in the public sphere.

Bibliography:

Fraser, Nancy: Theorie der Öffentlichkeit – Strukturwandel der Öffentlichkeit. In: Habermas Handbuch, edited by Hauke Brunkhorst, Regina Kreide, Cristina Lafont, Verlag Metzler, Stuttgart 2009.
Sater, James N.: Civil Society and Political Change in Morocco, Routledge, London 2007