Edinburgh Studies on the Maghreb – serie

Examines the impact of the changing geopolitical environment on a range of governance issues in North Africa Discusses cases from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Mauritania, using field work carried out throughout the regionSituates the North Africa region within several global contexts such as the West, Africa, and the Middle EastOffers both in-depth country case studies as well as cross-cutting thematic chapters including a focus on gender issuesTackles major global challenges including climate change, socioeconomic inequality and global power competition (Russia and China)Combines an academic and policy approach to the region to speak to a variety of audiencesNorth Africa was once on the geopolitical periphery of Middle East dynamics, but it has increasingly come to shape regional trends. In addition to internal political and economic transformations that were accelerated by the protests of 2011 and that have upended or reshaped the lives of millions of the region's inhabitants, the region is also contending with a range of external challenges. These include the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic transformation, changing market dynamics including energy markets, the growing presence of new regional actors like Russia and China, and the changing role of traditional allies such as the European Union, Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and the United States. These dynamics are compounded by other natural and man-made climate changes and demographic changes that worsen them. This volume shows why North Africa, sometimes considered a backwater within a broader Middle East context, actually is the leading edge of change for the region and deserving of far more attention from the international community. North African countries are facing a dizzying array of challenges related to domestic and global trends--political transformation either recent or underway, economic stagnation now worsened by the pandemic, social challenges associated with a frustrated young population--are giving the region more geopolitical relevance with implications for the broader Middle East, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

North Africa was once on the geopolitical periphery of Middle East dynamics, but it has increasingly come to shape regional trends. In addition to internal political and economic transformations that were accelerated by the protests of 2011 and that have upended or reshaped the lives of millions of the region's inhabitants, the region is also contending with a range of external challenges. These include the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic transformation, changing market dynamics including energy markets, the growing presence of new regional actors like Russia and China, and the changing role of traditional allies such as the European Union, Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and the United States. These dynamics are compounded by other natural and man-made climate changes and demographic changes that worsen them. This volume shows why North Africa, sometimes considered a backwater within a broader Middle East context, actually is the leading edge of change for the region and deserving of far more attention from the international community. North African countries are facing a dizzying array of challenges related to domestic and global trends--political transformation either recent or underway, economic stagnation now worsened by the pandemic, social challenges associated with a frustrated young population--are giving the region more geopolitical relevance with implications for the broader Middle East, Europe, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Orit Ouaknine-Yekutieli examines the life and deeds of Thami al-Glaoui (1879 1956), and the multiple ways in which his story has been told. She investigates his biography as a creation continuing beyond the demise of its protagonist, asserting a conflation of history, story and storytelling. The book also reconfigures the story of major events and processes in modern Moroccan history and historiography. Thami al-Glaoui, leader of the Amazigh Glaoua tribe and Pasha of Marrakesh throughout Morocco's colonial era (1912 56), was the third most powerful person in Morocco, after the Sultan and the French Resident-General, by the 1930s. In 1953, he was a key supporter of the deportation of Sultan Mohamed V by the French. After recanting three years later, he was pardoned by the returning Sultan, but died shortly afterwards. In the four decades that followed, al-Glaoui became a synonym in Morocco for betrayal and corruption. In the 21st century, however, the ways in which he is told became more complex, and his reputation has been somewhat revised.

Orit Ouaknine-Yekutieli examines the life and deeds of Thami al-Glaoui (1879 1956), and the multiple ways in which his story has been told. She investigates his biography as a creation continuing beyond the demise of its protagonist, asserting a conflation of history, story and storytelling. The book also reconfigures the story of major events and processes in modern Moroccan history and historiography. Thami al-Glaoui, leader of the Amazigh Glaoua tribe and Pasha of Marrakesh throughout Morocco's colonial era (1912 56), was the third most powerful person in Morocco, after the Sultan and the French Resident-General, by the 1930s. In 1953, he was a key supporter of the deportation of Sultan Mohamed V by the French. After recanting three years later, he was pardoned by the returning Sultan, but died shortly afterwards. In the four decades that followed, al-Glaoui became a synonym in Morocco for betrayal and corruption. In the 21st century, however, the ways in which he is told became more complex, and his reputation has been somewhat revised.

Based on extensive fieldwork data, Daesh Ideology and Women's Rights in the Maghreb argues that Daesh's radicalized gender regime does not only target Western modernity; it also targets a homegrown modernity in the Maghreb. While the former is historically built on the exclusion of religion, the latter is built on the reform of Islamic law. Women's legal rights in the Maghreb constitute a solid entry point to examine and explain the rise of Daesh ideology in the Maghreb. While the book situates various informants within a larger political history, it prioritises conceptual ideology and aims to understand the depth and effect of this ideology.

Based on extensive fieldwork data, Daesh Ideology and Women’s Rights in the Maghreb argues that Daesh’s radicalized gender regime does not only target Western modernity; it also targets a homegrown modernity in the Maghreb. While the former is historically built on the exclusion of religion, the latter is built on the reform of Islamic law. Women’s legal rights in the Maghreb constitute a solid entry point to examine and explain the rise of Daesh ideology in the Maghreb. While the book situates various informants within a larger political history, it prioritises conceptual ideology and aims to understand the depth and effect of this ideology.