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Master and Disciple: The Cultural Foundations of Moroccan Authoritarianism
In the postcolonial era, Arab societies have been ruled by a variety of authoritarian regimes. Focusing on his native Morocco, Abdellah Hammoudi explores the ideological and cultural foundations of this persistent authoritarianism.
Building on the work of Foucault, Hammoudi argues that at the heart of Moroccan culture lies a paradigm of authority that juxtaposes absolute authority against absolute submission. Rooted in Islamic mysticism, this paradigm can be observed in the drama of mystic initiation, with its fundamental dialectic between Master and Disciple; in conflict with other cultural forms, and reelaborated in colonial and postcolonial circumstances, it informs all major aspects of Moroccan personal, political, and gender relations. Its influence is so pervasive and so firmly embedded that it ultimately legitimizes the authoritarian structure of power. Hammoudi contends that as long as the Master-Disciple dialectic remains the dominant paradigm of power relations, male authoritarianism will prevail as the dominant political form.
"Connecting political domination to gift exchange, ritual initiation, social loyalty, and gender reversals, Master and Disciple is nothing less than a thoroughgoing revision of our understanding of authoritarian rule in Morocco and in the Arab world in general."—Clifford Geertz, Institute for Advanced Study
Building on the work of Foucault, Hammoudi argues that at the heart of Moroccan culture lies a paradigm of authority that juxtaposes absolute authority against absolute submission. Rooted in Islamic mysticism, this paradigm can be observed in the drama of mystic initiation, with its fundamental dialectic between Master and Disciple; in conflict with other cultural forms, and reelaborated in colonial and postcolonial circumstances, it informs all major aspects of Moroccan personal, political, and gender relations. Its influence is so pervasive and so firmly embedded that it ultimately legitimizes the authoritarian structure of power. Hammoudi contends that as long as the Master-Disciple dialectic remains the dominant paradigm of power relations, male authoritarianism will prevail as the dominant political form.
"Connecting political domination to gift exchange, ritual initiation, social loyalty, and gender reversals, Master and Disciple is nothing less than a thoroughgoing revision of our understanding of authoritarian rule in Morocco and in the Arab world in general."—Clifford Geertz, Institute for Advanced Study
222 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1997
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760 people want to read
About the author
Abdellah Hammoudi
18 books23 followersAbdellah Hammoudi was Professor at the Mohammed V University in Rabat, Morocco, and the first holder of the Faisal Visiting Professorship at Princeton. He was the founding director of the Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. Professor Hammoudi has done extensive work on the ethno-history of his native Morocco, fieldwork in Morocco, Libya and Saudi Arabia, as well as participated in major development projects in these three countries. His most recent book, Une saison à la Mecque, published by Le Seuil, Paris, in 2004, was translated into English: A Season in Mecca, Hill and Wang, 2006, as well as in several other languages including Arabic, Dutch, Italian and German. Two other books published in French were translated into English: The Victim and Its Masks, Essay on Sacrifice and Masquerade in Maghreb (1993), and Master and Disciple, The Cultural Foundations of Moroccan Authoritarianism in Comparative Perspectives(1997), both published by University of Chicago Press. More recently, he edited Democratizing the South Shore, Between Persuasion and Invasion, in French, CNRS, 2007. His publications include books on agrarian policy and the relation of tribal organization to religion. He has also participated in the production of several films for television based on his ethnographic work. He teaches courses on Islamic movements, Middle East society, colonialism, French ethnographic theory, and political anthropology.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 12, 2016
As a foreigner living in Morocco, this book explained behavior which I had not previously been able to understand. For example, I have witnessed employees (even in tears) who were poorly treated by their superiors, who after promotions in subsequent years, turned right around and treated their new underlings even worse. Why would they do this? I have witnessed several husbands transform from friendly, open-minded young men, into angry, dissatisfied tyrants within the family setting. Why this odd transformation? I have witnessed people of many different ages be verbally abused by people who are older, only to witness them turn around and behave the same way to people who are younger. I have witnessed people in businesses, who instead of being helpful to each other, working together ans a team and sharing information in order for the business to run smoothly for the benefit of all, are working against each other, seemingly in competition, obstructing the flow of information and backstabbing each other. Again, why?
This book really helped me to understand all of this behavior, through reading "between the lines" and comparing it with my own experiences in Morocco. The book is actually about the topic of why Islamic societies all seem to end up with authoritarian forms of government, and looks at Morocco as a microcosm of this larger question.
However, this book is most definitely not for the casual reader. It uses a difficult vocabulary and some of the concepts are obscure to the casual reader. Nevertheless, it goes into great detail about Moroccan history in three phases: traditional authoritarian practices in the pre-Colonialist period (two-thirds of the book); authoritarian practices as they developed during the Colonial period; and the continuation of authoritarian practices in the post-Colonialist period.
The book goes into great detail about the pre-Colonialist historical practices of gift-giving; how taxation was conducted through tax-farming methods; how taxes were extracted first from the populace by the caids, and later by the sultan from the caid by the sultan sending his army in order to obtain them; as well as the uses to which the funds were put. It also goes into a good amount of detail regarding the French occupation, and allowed me to understand it from the Moroccan point-of-view.
Reading about all of these historical behaviors, I felt as if I could see those behaviors reproduced today in nearly every family, in every office, in every company, and in the way people make decisions and treat each other.
I DO highly recommend this book, but not to the "average" reader. I recommend it to anyone with experience living in Morocco, who is a REALLY SERIOUS reader who is interested in a REALLY SERIOUS ethnography of the origin of power and authority in Morocco. I also highly recommend it to anyone who does business in any country and wonders about where the practices of giving gifts to officials and employees are the usual mode of doing business or getting things done would have come from. I suspect that the dynamics described in this book are applicable to many countries in Africa, perhaps to countries like Russia (although I've never been there), and certainly any countries with tribal backgrounds, or countries where democracy or business relationships do not seem to work well due to nepotism and loyalty considerations with various groups.
This was an excellent book, but a difficult read. It's more oriented to scholars (professional anthropologists) than to lay-readers. This style of academic writing lends itself to obtuseness, particularly in the introduction. This is the main reason I am giving it four stars instead of five. However, following the introduction, starting with Chapter 1, the book becomes much more readable.
If you are thinking about ordering this book, definitely go onto Amazon and use the "look inside" feature to read some of the text and be sure it is for you, first. The text is only 158 pages, but it takes about the same amount of effort as a typical 400-page book would, so just be prepared for that. Furthermore, this book is difficult, so if French is your first language, DO order it in French from Amazon.fr.
This book really helped me to understand all of this behavior, through reading "between the lines" and comparing it with my own experiences in Morocco. The book is actually about the topic of why Islamic societies all seem to end up with authoritarian forms of government, and looks at Morocco as a microcosm of this larger question.
However, this book is most definitely not for the casual reader. It uses a difficult vocabulary and some of the concepts are obscure to the casual reader. Nevertheless, it goes into great detail about Moroccan history in three phases: traditional authoritarian practices in the pre-Colonialist period (two-thirds of the book); authoritarian practices as they developed during the Colonial period; and the continuation of authoritarian practices in the post-Colonialist period.
The book goes into great detail about the pre-Colonialist historical practices of gift-giving; how taxation was conducted through tax-farming methods; how taxes were extracted first from the populace by the caids, and later by the sultan from the caid by the sultan sending his army in order to obtain them; as well as the uses to which the funds were put. It also goes into a good amount of detail regarding the French occupation, and allowed me to understand it from the Moroccan point-of-view.
Reading about all of these historical behaviors, I felt as if I could see those behaviors reproduced today in nearly every family, in every office, in every company, and in the way people make decisions and treat each other.
I DO highly recommend this book, but not to the "average" reader. I recommend it to anyone with experience living in Morocco, who is a REALLY SERIOUS reader who is interested in a REALLY SERIOUS ethnography of the origin of power and authority in Morocco. I also highly recommend it to anyone who does business in any country and wonders about where the practices of giving gifts to officials and employees are the usual mode of doing business or getting things done would have come from. I suspect that the dynamics described in this book are applicable to many countries in Africa, perhaps to countries like Russia (although I've never been there), and certainly any countries with tribal backgrounds, or countries where democracy or business relationships do not seem to work well due to nepotism and loyalty considerations with various groups.
This was an excellent book, but a difficult read. It's more oriented to scholars (professional anthropologists) than to lay-readers. This style of academic writing lends itself to obtuseness, particularly in the introduction. This is the main reason I am giving it four stars instead of five. However, following the introduction, starting with Chapter 1, the book becomes much more readable.
If you are thinking about ordering this book, definitely go onto Amazon and use the "look inside" feature to read some of the text and be sure it is for you, first. The text is only 158 pages, but it takes about the same amount of effort as a typical 400-page book would, so just be prepared for that. Furthermore, this book is difficult, so if French is your first language, DO order it in French from Amazon.fr.
April 23, 2019
حاول عبدالله حمودي وصف الوضع السلطة الحالي و شكلها في المغرب عن طريق تأطيرها في علاقة الشيخ بالمريد. نجح في وصف العلاقة و نبش اسسها و جذورها و الاستدلال بوجودها في دول عربية أخري كالجزائر و مصر. لكن ما لاحظته شخصياً في الكتاب، هو محاولة تلطيف السلطة الحالية في المغرب على حساب مثيلاتها في دول عربية أخرى. كتاب مهم جداً، يعتبر صعب و أكاديمي و يستحق القراءة.
March 17, 2017
ركز عبد الله حمودي على تحليل السلطة وعلاقات الحكم من خلال تحليل و مقارنة ثلاث نماذج : المغرب ،و الجزائر و مصر.
ترتكز نظريته على علاقة النظام كشبكة من الأعضاء و المكونات - تجمعهم مصالح - برأس السلطة ،حيث يشبهها بالتراتببة في الطرائق الصوفية أي العلاقة بين الشيخ و المريد ،
إنه بحث انتربولوجي يمتح مماهو سياسي و تاريخي و أيضا اجتماعي و حتى الصوفي،
مثير للإعجاب الفصل الذي أبرز فيه علاقة الشيخ و المريد حيث تصل الأمر إلى حافة الشذوذ في هذه العلاقة،حين يتخد المريد دور الأنثى ،
ترتكز نظريته على علاقة النظام كشبكة من الأعضاء و المكونات - تجمعهم مصالح - برأس السلطة ،حيث يشبهها بالتراتببة في الطرائق الصوفية أي العلاقة بين الشيخ و المريد ،
إنه بحث انتربولوجي يمتح مماهو سياسي و تاريخي و أيضا اجتماعي و حتى الصوفي،
مثير للإعجاب الفصل الذي أبرز فيه علاقة الشيخ و المريد حيث تصل الأمر إلى حافة الشذوذ في هذه العلاقة،حين يتخد المريد دور الأنثى ،
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews