The Center: A Post-revolution Space for Women’s Movements in North Africa: Morocco as an Example

Abstract

Using the case of Morocco, this chapter argues for the emergence of the “Center” as an ideological middle-ground space between the increasingly antagonistic paradigms of secularism and Islamism in post-revolution North Africa. Including versions of the two paradigms but also stretching the space to allow for more diversity, the Center is partly created by women’s issues as these have been consistently used as the bone of contention between secularists and Islamists. The main differences between the various hues of conservative and Islamist ideologies relate to women’s “allocated” freedoms. As part and parcel of the demands by civil society and the population at large, women’s issues are becoming more diversified and polyvocal as a variety of actors and agents are increasingly gaining visibility in the public sphere of authority.