The Transformation of Rural Administration during the Colonial Period in Southern Morocco

Abstract

This thesis examines the effects of the colonial period on state administration in rural areas in southern Morocco. It argues that this period saw the emergence of a new type of administration resulting from the interaction between French administrators, Moroccan officials and the rural population. The colonial state tried to superpose a colonial administrative structure upon the preexisting Moroccan state apparatus: the Makhzan. In theory, this approach was to gradually introduce the French administrative culture and norms into the country at minimal costs. In practice however, the dual French-Moroccan administration created a new situation that did not comply to either French norms or Moroccan history. In fact, the protracted process of military and administrative penetration upended the prevailing political structures in southern Morocco. Before the colonization, the region’s fragmented political system was based on a constant renegotiation of the power equilibrium between governors and governed. Intermediary corps such as the tribe balanced or complemented the power of the state as well as that of local potentates. By contrast, the colonial state introduced a vertical approach to power through the technical improvements it brought to local administration. However, the paucity of colonial resources prevented a fully bureaucratic and hierarchical administration from emerging. In that context, the power equilibrium logic remained a key characteristic of Moroccan administration. Nonetheless, in the new vertical system, this equilibrium tilted towards the state and the notables associated with it at the expense of individuals and intermediary corps such as the tribe.