ABSTRACT
The Moroccan case study poignantly illustrates that minority, indigenous and women’s rights frameworks have been utilised in a hegemonic and essentialising fashion by the elites driving the movements to achieve societal change. Minority groups and indigenous peoples, and women in particular, might possibly be better served by other discourses and toolkits, rather than by being categorised under a label that is often constructed by sites of power. The meanings attributed to human rights and gender equality by Amazigh women demonstrate the incoherencies and contradictions stemming from the hegemonic nature of ‘emancipation’ within the human rights project. The superficiality, and limited usefulness, of legal reforms without the accompaniment of much-needed investments, policies and measures to address root socio-economic inequalities are at the core of Amazigh women’s lived experiences. Non-elite women might be, by and large, aware of the importance that the Amazigh language plays in their group identity and cohesiveness.
