Protest in Morocco and the Deprivation Thesis: The Need to Expand Interpretive Approaches

Abstract

There is near consensus among researchers that the primary driving force for protest action is a feeling of relative deprivation, which motivates the open expression of a feeling of oppression. In the Moroccan context, this feeling is the opposite of concepts of “dignity”, “respect”, and “equality”. However, sole reliance on a single theory to explain social action prevents an understanding of this collective practice in terms of form, content, and scope. There is also an evident need to focus on the goals as defined by protestors as rational actors, whose behaviour results from specific needs, and on the resources they employ to achieve them. This analysis is undertaken with reflection on the social, political, cultural, and historical context that produces these actions, in line with the opportunities available, and their ability to explain the course of events and give them meaning.