The role of Moroccan women scientists in reshaping the imaginary about women and citizenship

Abstract

Feminist movements in Morocco have gone through various phases and experimented with different tactics of struggle to improve the situation of women. We speak in general about feminist movements, since the label "struggle for gender equality" would, from the outset, imply a form of imposition of Western thought and an unforgivable loss of the genuine character of this process. What this article seeks to describe concerns one of the latest stakes in this complex movement being pursued by Moroccan intellectuals. In general, it is a matter of gauging the new conceptual aspects or cultural stakes that address the traditional identity components and their effects on the process under study. In particular, this article presents the results synthesising the main findings of the INTRAPI project and those obtained during a research stay at the University of Meknes. It describes elements of the formation of the intellectual and cultural personality of Moroccan feminist leaders based on their role in the university and in the Moroccan community. The main results of the interviews conducted indicate that the desire to establish the legitimacy of women's demands in a deeply misogynist society, and in the midst of a radical political movement that still considers the gender approach as disruptive, is developing in three ways. The first of these concerns women's access to the public sphere, the second the redefinition of religious precepts, and the third the redefinition of the identity of Moroccan feminism.