Looking South: Pitfalls and Constraints of EU Civil Society Promotion Strategies in Morocco

Since the implementation of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership in 1995, the promotion of civil society activism has been a centrepiece in the policy framework used by the European Union to advance democracy in the Arab world. The importance given to civil society and its democratizing potential relies on the liberal normative hypothesis that there is a natural nexus between a strong civil society, democracy and democratization. However, from the 2000s onwards, theorists of authoritarian resilience have begun to regard civil society as a pillar of authoritarianism which serves to boost the regime it is supposed to democratize. The argument is that organizations of civil society under an authoritarian environment have to adapt themselves to the limits established by the state. If they refuse to do so, they will be marginalized and repressed, making difficult to achieve their goals. In contrast, if they accept the rules of the game, they will likely be rewarded and be allowed to meet their targets. In this case, the organizations of civil society would be reinforcing the authoritarian rule and practices. This complex scenario can be found in the case of Moroccan civil society, which is currently composed of different types of organizations with different capacities to play an effective role in promoting political change in the country. Considering this situation, this paper aims to address the theoretical development and practice of civil society in Morocco and the transformations experienced in the sphere of activism in the last decade in order to examine the diverse roles played by civil society organizations in public domain and the pitfalls and constrains that European Union society promotion strategies have in Morocco.