ABSTRACT
Women’s movement in Morocco has in many cases stepped over the assumed democratically elected institutions and resorted directly to the king to instigate reforms and change laws to attain its objectives (Yachoulti, 2012). This has resulted to a great extent in reinforcing the position of the king as the ultimate referee and decision maker and has contributed to trivializing civil society activism in Morocco. Nowadays, social media in Morocco is full of videos of common citizens addressing the king in person to help them solve their day-to-day administrative problems or to provide a social/public service. The 2011 political atmosphere and constitutional reforms have offered a momentum for civil society - particularly for the women’s movement - to thrive and re-emerge as a powerful actor with more rights and roles in the political arena. In this regard, the present chapter aims to investigate what changed for the women’s movement, as part of vibrant Moroccan civil society groups, in relation to the state after unprecedented 2011 constitutional reforms. In other words, has the women’s movement managed to become more efficient in its actions after the new progressive provisions of the 2011 constitution? To achieve this, the chapter uses a comparative approach to civil society activism and role in Morocco before and after the 2011 constitutional reform with special focus on the women’s movement. It makes use of my doctorate research findings (2006–2012) on civil society in Morocco and on following civil society actors in the post-Moroccan Spring movement on the ground and through media.
