Language, Islam, and Law in French Berber Policy of Morocco (1912-1956)

FAIN: FA-53642-07

Katherine E. Hoffman
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL 60208-0001)

French native policy in the Protectorate of Morocco (1912-1956) was debated, implemented, and reversed in part according to experiences in colonial Algeria and Senegal. Policy was anchored in a distinction between two ethnolinguistic groups–Arab and Berber–with the former threatening and the latter potentially accommodating French interests. My book project traces the development of native policy and its application in the rural customary courts that frustrated French attempts to dichotomize the Muslim population. It investigates French language ideologies–meaning beliefs about the inherent nature of language freighted with their political interests–to situate colonial administration in comparative, global perspective.