Work

Mobility, infrastructure, and peacebuilding: (Im-)mobilising Morocco's waters in the early French Protectorate, 1912–1925

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The Administration of the French Protectorate in Morocco sought to build water infrastructure to redirect water resources into the colonial economy. Moroccan water users resisted this process intensely, forcing the Administration to adjust its aims. This article examines this historical conflict through a mobility lens. It argues that the mobile nature of water was a formative element in shaping Moroccan resistance because of the potential of water mobilisation to evoke an emotive response. Perceiving this response as an element of mobility allows a more profound analysis of “active violent infrastructure”, as it explores the need of colonial elites to navigate this emotive response while planning marginalising and deleterious infrastructural designs.

Source: The Journal of Transport History

DOI: 10.1177/00225266241295476

Author: Bas Rensen

Institution: European University Institute

Language: English

Topic: Water Governance and Infrastructure

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Peace, justice, and strong institutions, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,450