'They say that we are from africa': race, slavery, and Haratin nationalists in 20th century colonial Morocco

They say that we are from Africa examines how changes in patron-client status and land ownership among the Atta tribe and the Haratin community, from the late 19th century up until the end of the French Protectorate in 1956, shed light on how and why the Haratin became racialized figures as “black” and “African.” By centering the Haratin within 20th century Moroccan history I offer three major interventions. First, I refute Haratin slave ancestry in the Anti-Atlas by establishing their economic power in the pre-colonial period. Second, I establish their contributions to the nationalist struggle in northern urban centers such as Casablanca; and more importantly, I demonstrate their role in extending the nationalist struggle into heretofore provincialized southern rural communities such as Zagora and Tata. Third, I demonstrate the emergence of a revisionist post-colonial racial discourse creating exclusionary, marginal, identities for the Haratin, which obscured conflicts over land resources. This key point makes clear the role of decolonial movements in producing an othered, “African” identity, which contributes to exclusion from the nation in Morocco and more broadly, North Africa.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference