Ghassane Koumiya traces the establishment of the New Left in post-independence 60’s-70’s Morocco.

The period between 1960 and 1970 significantly shaped the political history of contemporary Morocco. During this period, the contradiction between the dominant classes reached their peak while the bloody break-up of the Monarchy with the emancipation movement lead to the establishment of a despotic regime.

These historical and political conditions contributed to the establishment of the New Left in Morocco. The movement offered a revolutionary alternative to the traditional Communist parties and the nationalist movement.

Ghassane Koumiya is a researcher at Tricontinental Institute of Social Research and a Professor of Translation at the Institute of Leadership and Journalism in Rabat (Morocco). He is a political anthropologist who has worked on grassroots, political and popular movements from the Maghreb region. Ghassane has been active in the trade union movement and human rights movement in Morocco. He is currently completing his PhD in Cultural Anthropology at Ljubljana University (Slovenia)

Image Credit: From the cover of Souffles no. 19 (1970). via Bibliothèque Nationale du Royaume du Maroc.