Rationalizing Cooperation: Moroccan Craft, Politics, and Education

Abstract

State attempts to rationalize Moroccan craft education reflect the ambivalent status of traditional knowledge in a modern economy. Female artisans, recently organized as a cooperative, navigate this ambivalence in a weaving “theory” class and in their “occupation” of the cooperative structure itself. During performances of learning and cooperation, weavers fulfill the terms of the state's policies and their roles as “economic citizens,” while accomplishing local modes of belonging and the management of social relations.

FRAMES OF REFERENCE: Cloth, Community, and Knowledge Ideology in Morocco

“…Like the Sirwa weavers described by Naji (2009, 2012), most contemporary Qarīa weavers practice their craft out of a sense of obligation or as a survival strategy rather than as a vocation, in Weber’s sense. This mirrors the broader attitude in Moroccan society toward the status of traditional craftsmanship more generally (Nicholas 2018).…”

“…This was certainly the case for Morocco’s nationalist movement, and the French colonial administration which preceded it (Daoud 1993). Though the craft cooperative emerged during the colonial period especially in urban, male‐dominated craft contexts (Chikhaoui 2002; Irbouh 2012; Mokhiber 2013; Mothes 1950), since the 1980s the focus has increasingly centered on women’s crafts such as carpet‐weaving and embroidery (Chikhaoui 2002; Nicholas 2018). Recent policies incentivize the creation of cooperatives and offer administrative and financial support.…”

“…Weaving is an activity that was previously practiced exclusively in the home, coordinated with the accomplishment of such domestic tasks as childcare, cooking, and cleaning. The cooperative has partially transformed this activity through the construction of a centralized production and meeting space, continuing education workshops, and the incorporation of the weavers’ informal, kin‐based education model into a national system of accredited vocational training (Nicholas 2011, 2018).…”

“…But it is one thing for an anthropologist to explain the situatedness of all knowledge, and quite another for rural weavers to disrupt the social and political order which underpins the knowledge hierarchy that valorizes textile science or government officials over artisans such as Jamila and Leila. Indeed, in order to access resources from the state—including financial and administrative support, commercial promotion, and invitations to national and international craft fairs—Qarīa weavers are expected to attend these training workshops and partially reorganize traditional systems of production, commercialization, and training (Nicholas 2018). On the one hand, the cooperative has challenged the supremacy of status‐based exclusions by opening membership to non‐shorfa women.…”

“…On the one hand, the cooperative has challenged the supremacy of status‐based exclusions by opening membership to non‐shorfa women. On the other, it has enabled certain already well‐connected women such as the cooperative administrative members (of shorfa descent) to expand their existing personal‐commercial networks and access new experiences and markets (Nicholas 2018). In short, the political and social effects of the cooperative are multidirectional and uneven, but the logic that governs its educational dimension continues to shape policy‐making.…”