In the Shadow of the Sultan: Culture, Power, and Politics in Morocco (Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs, 31)

Book Description
Since the ninth century, Morocco has been ruled by a sultan-king who has monopolized the levers of power. This striking longevity invites questions about the institutions and social processes that bolster the monarchy's stability. This collection of twelve articles approaches the question of power by bringing together the most recent scholarship on Moroccan political culture as seen from a variety of disciplinary perspectives and historical moments, from the medieval period until today. Focussing primarily on popular understandings of authority, the studies in this volume encompass themes of sainthood, ceremony, submission, tolerance, violence, sexuality, gender, and intergenerational conflict. They offer a lively and uninhibited account of the means by which the Moroccan monarchy has mastered the symbols of power and their public representations.


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What accounts for the impressive longevity of the monarchy in Morocco? Since the ninth century, sultans and kings have monopolized power and held the levers of command in that northwest African state. In this collection of articles, a distinguished group of scholars from the United States and Morocco use the institution of the monarchy as the starting point for reexamining the various constituents of political authority in Morocco. Concentrating on symbolic representations as well as popular manifestations of power, the authors place in historical and social context a number of contentious issues engaging Moroccans today, such as political legitimacy, democratic pluralism, and human rights.


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