Le “printemps arabe” à l’épreuve des revendications amazighes au Maroc

This paper intends to question the expression "Arab Spring", systematically used in media and in scientific researches to speak about protest movements that take place in North Africa, Middle East and Arabian Peninsula since the end of 2010. This expression doesn’t give attention to cultural claims, although they are key issues for understanding recent political events in Morocco. Amazigh activists -fighting for the recognition of Moroccan cultural diversity and for a new regionalization process based on culture- arouse a public debate on the terms of the national unity. By using the expression "Arab Spring", media and experts support official myths: the pan-arabist reference and the French colonial model of the centralized Nation-State. They reproduce stereotyped images on Moroccan identity. This paper is based on an analysis of explicit and implicit discourses held on identities since the beginning of the protests in Morocco, by some Moroccan and international newspapers, and by Amazigh activists. It focuses on their territorial and political issues