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ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY

SUBJECT: GLOBAL POLITICS

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“To what extent does the repression of
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linguistic rights (Tamazight) fuel the social
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exclusion of Amazigh women?”

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Date: January 2023

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Word Count: 1947

May 2023
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For my engagement activity, I have participated in several initiatives that tackle the importance of linguistic rights in the

development of majority indigenous areas. Moreover, I investigated how the systematic repression of Tamazight (language

spoken by North African indigenous populations) induced by the Moroccan authorities has led to the social exclusion of Amazigh

women.

Personal motivation

Exorbitant illiteracy rates, alienation from civilization, inexisting infrastructure, poorly-integrated water and electricity schemes,

and so goes on the list. All indicators of poverty determined by the World Bank are agglomerated in Morocco’s

Amazigh1predominant areas. Seeing these communities, particularly women, suffer from Governmental neglect has propelled me

to further investigate the roots of the authorities’ unconcern towards these disadvantaged groups. Indeed, while big cities like

Casablanca have become leading financial hubs, predominantly-Amazigh areas have consistently demonstrated a recurring

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pattern of low human development levels—a gap entrenched in the linguistic barriers that inhibit minorities from accessing the

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necessary tools to appropriately elect a representative that advocates for their rights or join the public sphere.

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Context
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Upon Morocco’s Independence from the French Protectorate in 1956, the Government put in place a decolonization operation
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aiming to dismantle the French influence through a process of Arabization (Chtatou, 2019). The country proclaimed its Arab
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identity, symbol of anticolonialism and freedom from Western influences. Policies targeting the language sector were set up,
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namely the proclamation of Arabic as the country's sole and official language and its imposition in the public sector. Initially
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aiming to unite Morocco’s population, these policies did not have the same effect on the Imazighen, who accused the rise of Arab
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nationalism as a source of polarization that further ingrained colonialism through the institutional discrimination towards them.
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Despite the many stimulated efforts for the preservation of the Amazigh language through initiatives led by the King Mohammed

VI—namely the full recognition, standardization, and officialization of Tamazight through a constitutional change in 2011

(Chtatou, 2019)—the effectiveness of the implementation of these policies has been heavily debated (Los Amazigs,

Supervivencia Y Lucha De Un Pueblo Ancestral, 2019). Amazigh activists have demanded that language policy needed to be

compatible with the country’s socio-linguistic reality. However, the gap between the officialization of the language in theory and

1
The Amazigh nation encompasses the indigenous population of North Africa who not only shares a common history and
cultural heritage, but also a common language: Tamazight
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in practice has resulted in high levels of illiteracy and disproportionate levels of social exclusion, sinking the country’s overall

levels of human development2.

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Source: Morocco World News

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Political Issue Explored
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The political engagements I have undertaken were centered around the battle for linguistic recognition as a tool to promote
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development of underrepresented and marginalized communities.

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1. For a time period of a month, I have been involved with “Tamazight Talks”, an online organization that focuses on
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raising awareness on linguistic rights through social media. This opportunity has allowed me to connect with several
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Amazigh activists whose insights have been of great benefit for finalizing this report.
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2. Secondly, I have attended a couple of online conferences organized by the International Minorities Rights Groups. This
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organization specifically explores links between minority rights and development, and the conferences, hosted by
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Amina Zioual (president of the Voice of Amazigh women) had a particular regional focus on North Africa and the

Imazighen communities, which provided me with expert opinions on the subject.

3. Lastly, while interning at the National Council for Human Rights, I was able to further explore the intersection of

human rights and development while also learning about the history of human rights violations against North African

indigenous populations, or the difficult battle for women empowerment in Morocco.

Overall, these activities have allowed me to gain a closer perspective of NGOs’ and individual actors’ efforts towards reducing

the linguistic gap in Morocco. Furthermore, they have allowed me to explore the compelling hybridity of the Moroccan identity

all while tackling gender and ethnic inequalities and engaging with my community. My main motivation behind the choice of this

topic stemmed from my longing for the analysis of the identity crisis borne by the North African population and a desire to

unwrap the reasons behind the development stagnation in Amazigh communities, being one of the main causes why Morocco has

2
Morocco ranks 169th in regards to HDI
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one of the lowest Human Development Indexes in the world despite it being one of the dominant economic powers of the African

continent.

The political issue explored in this engagement activity is the systematic marginalization of Amazigh women through linguistic

oppression. This issue is directly linked to the Third Unit of Global Politics: Development, as language counts as one of the

cultural factors that inhibits development. Furthermore, the Second Unit: Human Rights will be superficially explored through an

assessment of the rights of indigenous people which are being violated on a local, regional and global level. Post-colonialist and

feminist frameworks will be employed for the analysis.

● Understanding the complexity of the Amazigh identity

The Amazigh nation revolves around the indigenous population of North Africa encompassing Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya,

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Mauritania, and even parts of Egypt, Mali, and the Canary Islands. As an ethnolinguistic identity, those who identify with it

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possess a common history, cultural heritage, and language: Tamazight. Although the Imazighen3 share all the characteristics of

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the United Nations’ definition of minority4, according to the activists I have engaged in discussion with, the community prefers to
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employ the term “minoritized group” rather than “minority”. Indeed, ethnically speaking, several studies have demonstrated that
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Morocco’s population is nearly entirely Amazigh (Everett, 2019). However, as a result of Arabization policies implemented
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post-independence, Moroccans have drifted away from the Amazigh identity and language. Moreover, as I have learnt through
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the documents available at the Moroccan Council for Human Rights, today only one quarter of the Moroccan population speaks
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Tamazight as their mother tongue. This population, which will be analyzed in this report, is agglomerated around the High and
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Medium Atlas Mountains and the Rif Mountains.

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In this essay, the Imazighen will be considered as a “linguistic minority” rather than an ethnic minority due to the complexity

that delving into the ethnic diversity of the North African population would entail. Furthermore, this report will merely focus on

the linguistic aspect of the discrimination against indigenous groups in Morocco.

● Development

The Imazighen are agglomerated in the rural areas of the country, namely in the mountainous zones of the High and Middle Atlas

and the Rif. Not only do these regions lack basic infrastructure and possess soaring poverty rates (Dominguez, 2019), but the

3
Plural of Amazigh

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“A social group with a social and cultural identity different from that of the dominant society, which makes them likely to be
disadvantaged in the development process”
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phenomenon also expands to the educational sector, where chronic illiteracy levels are across the roof. According to a study

carried out in 2016, Amazigh women are the most affected by the high illiteracy rate in Morocco. Furthermore, women illiteracy

reaches 90 percent in some of the most remote areas (The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, 2016).

Hence, as these women have been given no formal education, they lack Arabic-speaking skills, which results in their

marginalization and exclusion from all socioeconomic and political activities (JACKSON, 2019). Furthermore, they are

prevented from emancipating and integrating the market labor due to the communication barrier that hinders the

Tamazight-speaking population in the periphery from accessing the most basic functions of society and centralized government.

Amina Zioual, who grew up in an isolated village in the Atlas mountains, backs up this argument by narrating how girls are

taught that in order to fully integrate into society, must learn a more prestigious language that will open the doors of opportunity

to them, Arabic.

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● The linguistic aspect

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This perception of knowledge can be associated with a process of epistemic injustice, also defined as a structural prerogative of a
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system of knowledge that is perceived as more valuable and superior to others (Elias, 2020). Indeed, Amina Zioual condams the
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Arabization process of epistemicide and the destruction of indigenous knowledge by actively contributing to the loss of the
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Tamazight native language.

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While attending the second conference hosted by the International Minority Group, I had the opportunity to acquire a more
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regional perspective on the issue of linguicism, which some North African activists qualify as “Arab Chauvinism”. According to
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them, North Africans have employed “Arabization” as a decolonial project completely ignoring the consequences of the neglect
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of the indigenous populations who also aspire to establish their autonomy from the French. Indeed, the Government perceives the

Arabic language as a superior way of communication allowing its speakers to justify their authority over others. Moreover,

Arabic speakers are in this case the group that concentrates most of the power in their hands, performs all political functions, and

monopolizes power—allowing no space for monolinguistic Tamazight speakers to participate in the political, laboral, or social

sphere. This phenomenon is also known as “linguistic imperialism”. Arabic serves as a dominant language, and its speakers have

access to a vaster supply of resources and opportunities. On the other hand, native speakers of Tamazight are discriminated

against and excluded on a social, political and economic level. This systematic and structural “linguicism” (discrimination based

on language), leads to the unequal distribution of power and resources between groups on the basis of their mother tongue

(Moreira, 2017).
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Role of women

From a post-colonialist point of view, according to philosopher Antonio Gramsci, the “subaltern” is the political, social, and

geographic isolation of the native population by those in power (Willette, 2013). In this case, Amazigh women are the subaltern

in an Arab male-dominated society. These women are the victims of oppression induced by the systemic violence against the

Imazighen’s linguistic rights, as well as the patriarchal system of Morocco.

As opposed to the norm of patriarchal societies, in Amazigh culture, the women’s position is put on a pedestal. Furthermore,

women are given the role to protect the language and heritage from all attempts of suppression. Therefore, we can see that the

movement for the preservation of the Tamazight is dominated by a feminist point of view. Hence, several Amazigh feminist

NGOs have emerged in attempts to address the importance of promoting a more inclusive approach towards languages in

Morocco. While discussing with these feminists, I have learnt that Amazigh women feel excluded from Moroccan feminist

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campaigns, which do not include them in their advocacy due to their Arab identification as a reference (JACKSON, 2019).

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Hence, Amazigh women have created their own feminist movements compelling the Moroccan feminist discourses to be

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sensitive to the ethnic diversity of the kingdom (Sadiqi, 2016). Their advocacy has mainly revolved around the promotion of
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linguistic rights and the emphasis on the need to adapt the political and economic structure of the country to the integration of
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women of all subnational identities. Engaging with Amazigh feminists has introduced me to their will to promote an
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intersectional feminism in Morocco that takes into consideration the struggle of the Amazigh women who are doubly oppressed
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by both a patriarchal structure and a colonial system that both oppresses their basic rights and marginalizes them from the rest of
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society.
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Conclusion
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In conclusion, we can assume that the linguistic repression of Amazigh and lack of effective investment in its officialization have

severely impacted the development of Amazigh women, who have been excluded from the public sector due to language barriers.

Although language barrier is one of the main factors in this marginalization, these women are affected by several other factors

that contribute to their isolation and exclusion from participation in socio-economic and political activities including but not

limited to: lack of public funding, lack of communication with cities (isolation), soaring poverty rates, poor infrastructure, or

misinterpretations of Islam that discourage women from access to education or work. All these socioeconomic factors disable

these young girls and women access to education consequently obstructing the human, economic and socio-political development

of rural areas and opposing an obstacle to gender equality in Morocco.

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References

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Chtatou, M. (2019, January 18). The Amazigh Cultural Renaissance. The Washington Institute. Retrieved October

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Dominguez, A. (2019, April 18). Los amazigs, supervivencia y lucha de un pueblo ancestral. El Orden Mundial.

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Retrieved October 19, 2022, from

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https://elordenmundial.com/los-amazigs-supervivencia-y-lucha-de-un-pueblo-ancestral/
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Elias, S. (2020, November 25). Epistemic violence against Indigenous Peoples. IWGIA.
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