About the Tribe: A Reality with Changeable Dimensions

Abstract

This paper examines the relevance of the tribe in contemporary Moroccan reality based on three recent fieldwork examples. Looking at the development of pasturage in the high plateaus of Eastern Morocco, negotiations over the local elections in the Wadi Ouneine Valley in the High Atlas, and the Soulaliyate women's movement in the Mahdia Association in the suburbs of the capital, the paper presents an approach to the definition and study of tribalism in Morocco today. This discussion is situated within an analytical and critical review of existing anthropological and political science frameworks of tribal society.