Exploring the political spaces for opposition: preliminary findings from Morocco

The aftermath of the 2021 elections in Morocco resulted in a solid majority, aligned with the executive monarch, which left close to no formal opportunities to oppose. This apparent lack of alternative political options prompted the question of who actually can be the opposition in a case such as Morocco? Acknowledging the limitations of the main analytical frameworks employed in the literature on political opposition, this paper proposes to study opposition through the framework of political spaces. Merging an encompassing definition of opposition with a tri-dimensional understanding of political spaces, this study asks the following: what are the locations of contestation and accommodation that allow for organized forms of disagreement to be expressed? By focusing on how political consensus is established and reasserted, and on the variety of ways in which the same consensus is challenged by a plethora of actors, this paper emphasises the continuous negotiations over issues, practices, and arenas that allow different actors to express disagreement. Through the study of political spaces, this paper argues for the need to address opposition in non-democratic regimes through more dynamic approaches, which reflect on who and which practices can be considered opposition, and the way they challenge the existing hegemonic consensus and authorities.