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Choughs and irises. Anthropology of tourism, space and identity in Morocco
Konopíková, Michaela ; Soukup, Martin (advisor) ; Bláha, Jan Daniel (referee) ; Sokolíčková, Zdenka (referee)
The dissertation project is based on a long-term fieldwork among the Berber community in the Moroccan High Atlas Mountains. It looks at the transformation of the local environment since new discursive practices are emerging as a result of an interference of the global economy, environmentalism and developmental policies. Following Appadurai, the thesis raises a question of locality in contemporary world and neighborhoods, which are imagined, produced, and maintained against some sort of ground while the context-generative dimension of neighborhoods provides a theoretical angle on the relationship of global and local realities with the idea of culturally hybridized world. Together with Appadurai, the thesis deals with "what locality might mean in a situation where the nation-state faces particular sorts of transnational destabilization." The thesis has thus two main aims. (1) After describing the structural conditions in which the tourism industry in the mountains operates, (2) it will discuss the limitations of the locals' responses to the global market, or more broadly the impacts of globalization. It is necessary to establish a framework, which would connect the large- scale and small-scale processes and identify the concept of their dialectical relationships. Through such a reading, the thesis...
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The people of High Atlas (analysis on socio-cultural situation)
Konopíková, Michaela ; Soukup, Martin (referee) ; Soukup, Václav (advisor)
The core subject of this thesis deals with a theme of sociocultural change among the Ait Mizane, a small Berber community in the Moroccan High Atlas mountains. Living in a remote region with typical harsh climate they were throughout history known as free people who were never subordinated to any kind of central rule irrespective of them being Romans, Spaniards or Arabs. This long period of considerable isolation slowly ended with the advent of French rule, who took over the country proclaiming it as their colony and fitting the local reality within the frame of colonial admistration. But more dramatic shifts were yet to come. Silk-like fibres of globalization are nowadays entering this area forming a firm web that spreads all around. Ait Mizane people, Berber speaking farmers and herders occupy an environment they have shaped for centuries; There is a strong sense of identity which is very much linked to the cultural environment mastered by generations of their predecessors. The relationships they maintained with other mountain tribes as well as with city dwellers surpassed the test of time and fit the context of Muslim cultural milieu. Ancient strategies and traditions are still dominant ones and still determine the peoples' live with great power, but at the same time innovation occurs with an intensity...
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