Morocco: Globalization and Its Consequences

In Morocco, Shana Cohen and Larabi Jaidi trace globalization's impact on the development of contemporary Morocco. Located at the far western edge of the Arab world and adjacent to Southern Europe, Morocco has been shaped by both worlds for centuries. But the politicized Islam that now pervades the Arab world has made its mark in Morocco too, and acts as counterforce to both Western-style development policies and secularism. Morocco is a particularly good place to look at this growing divide. It is perhaps the most liberalized Arab state, having adopted neoliberal policies in order to attract global investment and development aid. Yet the burgeoning Islamist movement has its own globalizing agenda. This concise introduction details globalization's impact on Moroccan culture and society. As well, it offers an ideal window for surveying the effects of globalization on the larger Arab world. Book jacket.

Shana Cohen is Lecturer in sociology at the University of Sheffield Larabi Jaidi is Professor of economics at Universite de Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco Professor Jaidi has also worked as an advisor to a number of ministries in the Moroccan government, including the Prime Minister