Blog 1: Race, Ethnicity, Culture, or Religion

I’ve been really interested in the occasional inclusion of the Amazigh language on signage around the places we’ve visited, and the increase of Amazigh cultural iconography the closer we’ve gotten to the Atlas mountains. Based on current demographic census information on ethnicity in Morocco, 99 percent of the population identifies as of Arab-Amazigh descent (Morocco Population 2026, n.d.). Despite the large percentage of Amazigh people, the 2024 census has only 24.8 percent of the population reporting speaking Amazigh (Hermas, 2025, n.d.). Social and political movements in more recent years have pushed for more inclusion of Amazigh language and culture in Moroccan society, but the minority language group still faces social marginalization, and cultural tension with the hegemonic Arabic variety. 

In a constitution adopted on July 1st, 2011, Amazigh was recognized as an official language of Morocco, and further interations have provided for the integration of Tamazight, a dialect of Amazigh, into education and administrative spaces. These changes reflect a significant shift in the social standing of the Amazigh national identity following a long history of systematic oppression, but Arabic remains the default language for all courts and legal proceedings. Tamazight education in public schools is optional and is focused on the primary levels (Minority Rights Group International et al., 2023, 1-2). Furthermore, social tensions exist between supporters of the integration of Amazigh and Moroccans who subscribe to a more Arabized national identity (Boukous, 2015, 68-69). 

I can’t speak directly on the political processes of the Moroccan government, but I can speak on some of the main causes of language shift the loss of minority languages, such as Amazigh, when up against larger, more centralized languages. Minority langauges risk attrition (loss of grammatical features) and death when not integrated into public domains, such as education and the workforce, simply due to lack of use in everyday life. In an increasingly interconnected society, shifting away from subsistence agriculture and towards an industrialized market, it becomes more necessary for a superstrate language, as in one that all citizens can speak. This concept poses a threat to any marginalized languages that are only spoken in private domains, typically at home or in insular communities, as it becomes less likely that younger generations will fully acquire the languages grammatical and lexical components. With this in mind, I would argue that the next steps of Amazigh integration need to involve more rigorous Amazigh educational programs in both primary and secondary schools, as well as training for educators in teaching Amazigh alongside French and Arabic. Additionally, continued dedication to including Amazigh translations on public signage and administrative documents. 

References

Boukous, A. (2015). Amazigh Constitutionalization in Morocco: Stakes and Strategies. Institut Universitaire Varenne -

Kultura, 67-75. Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe.

Hermas, A. (2025). Managing Morocco’s linguistic market: A linguistic citizenship proposal. European Journal

of Language Policy, 17(2). Liverpool University Press. https://doi.org/10.3828/ejlp.2025.13

Minority Rights Group International, La Voix de la Femme Amazighe, & Organisation Tamaynut. (2023, November).

Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Review of MOROCCO – 19th -21st periodic reports[Fact sheet on the situation of black Moroccans, migrants and Amazigh indigenous peoples in Morocco].

Morocco Population 2026. (n.d.). World Population Review. Retrieved May 14, 2026, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/

countries/morocco