Societal Transformation/Changing Value System

Societal Transformation/Changing Value System

An exodus, of sorts, from Figuig whereby a significant proportion of eligible men would leave Figuig for work abroad where salaries were much higher relative to rural Morocco, impacted society significantly. Women, children, and the elderly, along with the few well educated men remained to support the agricultural community and political potency of the oasis. These individuals supported community institutions, worked the farms, cared for the young, old, and infirmed, and engaged in artisinal crafts-making. Moreover, they educated the young, maintained traditions, and sustained a community. The men, however, who left to work abroad maintained their status as head of the household and were deferred to for decision-making when they returned to Figuig.

The men who left Figuig tended to gain employment as skilled laborers in construction or worked in low level jobs in industry, for example food and hospitality support, and cleaning services, abroad. The salaries garnered by these laborers, though very moderate relative to French standards, resulted in their having significant buying power in Figuig. As a result a salary in Europe would adequately support a comfortable lifestyle for a large family in the Oasis. These laborers, generally, chose to live a minimalist lifestyle in immigrant communities to enable them to save significant amounts of money that would go a long way in Figuig where the cost of living is significantly lower. Figure 24 shows the repartition of emigrants over France, French Algeria, and Morocco in 1951 (Bonnefous, 1953).

Figure 24: Emigration destinations in 1951 (measurement unit : persons)

Vacations were few, but long trips home to the Oasis were rewarded with relaxation and the comforts of modern amenities brought from Europe or the major metropolitan cities in Morocco and the servitude of those left behind to benefit from the laborers efforts. The immigrants gained respect and power as their economic status in the Oasis brought about respect for their contributions to the family and new sophistication from living beyond the simplicity of the desert. As a result, the local power structure began to change.

After years of working in Europe many who emigrated would return to Figuig to enjoy a more relaxing, traditional lifestyle, but with significant buying power. Their new social and economic status brought with it a new set of values and needs. Their physical and consequent cultural and political absence from the Oasis, along with their acquired taste for and access to modern luxuries and European comforts and cultural attitudes often diverged from Figuig’s sophist tradition. The luxury of retiring in Figuig with all its riches and strong family ties armed with the comforts that a pension from Europe could buy and the assumed worldliness from a life in a modern city also brought about new powers of influence.

At the same time the political culture in the community changed dramatically as the King reestablished power following Morocco’s recently won independence. As the political structure of Morocco was changing King Mohammed V and subsequently his son King Hassan II took the opportunity to expand their influence during a period of leadership changes. Rather than replacing French representatives with local representatives, these positions were filled by appointees from Rabat.

The central control of the governance structure and subsequently the water resources management system brought about the demise of the Water Council. While the Council withstood challenges from its French Protectorate, it was unable to assert itself effectively and remain in control in post independence Morocco. When Morocco gained its independence in 1956 the King asserted his power through the appointment of a new local administration that resulted in the dissolution of the water council as policy and law would not allow for institutions with similar functions to work in parallel. The prestigious authority that maintained continuity and community while ensuring common purpose and environmental sustainability was dissolved without substitution. Outside authority and political control, while cautiously recognized, could not be avoided. The social, political, and legal institutions supported by longstanding cultural traditions and steeped in a history of survival and independence were dispersed or dissolved.

Although the new national laws deferred to precedent, common law traditions were overshadowed as the local institutions that supported them, including the Water Council and the judiciary, were dissolved and replaced with imported administrative bodies. As most law was not written, but informed by accepted cultural norms and tradition and perpetuated by strong, respected institutions, including the Water Council and the Jmaâ, the lack of continuity in administrative process and decision-making made it difficult to interpret or effectively apply value laden rules.

Prior to independence the law was interpreted and applied by respected individuals or governing bodies entrenched in the community, respected by society, and versed in social, legal, technological, and political issues. The void of a governing body with a local mandate to oversee the most water resources for the survival of the community and the physical viability of the Oasis resulted in a disassociation with the value system of the community.

Those who repatriated often exploited the changes in the social, political, and legal culture within the Oasis. Politicians and regulators often developed strong ties with those who were financially successful and represented families and communities, often by default, given their assumed sophistication from living beyond the boarders of Figuig. Those who repatriated with new found social, economic and political influence often purchased parcels of land and would construct new homes and farms beyond the established city limits. Their buying power allowed them to build new wells and water systems to satisfy modern plumbing for their homes and new farms where they could plant imported fruits and vegetables in the heat of the desert supported by new technologies that pumped water from this “new” aquifer. Imported livestock, unaccustomed to the arid climate, further required significant amounts of energy and water resources to survive.



Figure 25: Modern farm in Berkouks

The new farming communities broke with traditional planting patterns resembling those in cooler climates with high levels of precipitation. With the trends in development some argue that newly discovered aquifers offer a new water source. Many of the individuals who have moved beyond the city limits and into newly established communities and built homes and farms, suggest that an untapped aquifer separate from the Tzadert system offers a new, lucrative source. Hydrologic engineers in Rabat, however, are skeptical of the possibility that this aquifer is independent thus increased use may have a long-term negative impact. Consequently, these individuals built new wells and facilities to support farms with great resource needs, exerting new pressures on the ecosystem.(Figuig interviews, 2006)

Figure 26: Traditional versus modern farming