A sociological study of the tribal system in the southeast and its manifestations in Amazigh culture between fanaticism and liberation
The “tribal system” or “Qabalit” has prevailed since ancient times and until not so long ago in all societies, and did not exclude any nationality or ethnicity, as it was the best option for humanity in a tribal, tribal environment that lives with the group and derives most of its pillars from customs and traditions that are considered closed and inherited practices, characterized by Also, with a kind of “customary” contractual fluidity and flexibility required by socially contracted laws, which gives it a character of sanctity.
The kinship bond represents the most important founder of the tribal system, as it is characterized by what are called extended families, which produce a special system usually based on customs and traditions. However, in Amazigh societies, this definition differs, and instead of taking on a fanatical character, it takes on a liberal/collective character. In the south-east, specifically in Tata and some regions such as “Ami Ogadir”, social life there is characterized by aspects of modernity, despite the presence of some features of the “Qiblaet” system, which is based on the manifestations of collective participation, such as the irrigation system, “maruf”, and “Tawizi/Tawiza”, cooperation and consumption between production and exchange.
By delving into this study, we must focus on the most important problems:
?What tribe? Is it a political or geographical dimension
?The most important manifestations of tribal society in the southeast
?How did this structure affect women
Was the Wahi society’s contact with Western culture during colonialism a fundamental basis for its exit from the tribal system?
In the book “The Makhzen and the Berbers” by Abdullah Al-Aroui, he emphasized that the concept of the tribe is linked to agriculture and collective ownership, and it depends on its ethnic depth to manage itself and rebuild the evolutionary process.
On the other hand, anthropologist Evans Prichard believes that the tribe is the actor in the political system whose features are determined by ecological conditions (agriculture and pastoralism).
Hence, we can state that Moroccan society was characterized before the colonial period, according to sociological studies, by a tribal structure that reproduced itself independently of all external interference, as it had a special structure that ensured continuity in social, political, economic and cultural life.
In a special local context, the oasis community in the southeast witnessed economic activity that was clearly under the banner of the Berbers, and the best example of this is the “Ilig” house, which dominated part of the western axis of trans-Saharan trade. These societies also highlighted the strategic importance of managing natural resources, especially water and land. The traditional irrigation system had a diverse pattern in water distribution techniques, or what is called in the Amazigh dictionary “tanast,” and is subject to the equitable distribution of water among different families according to customary law, as it is determined by a standard unit. It is called “Termet.” This unit - the shift - takes place either at night or during the day. Its duration extends according to the seasons and is measured chronologically by 24 hours. It is used with the instrument that was mentioned previously, which is an instrument made of copper or “Tanaset.” This custom is still practiced to this day in circles. The oasis.
On the social level, the family was linked by a spiritual dynamism, as was discovered by all sociological, psychological and anthropological studies, so that the family is a symbol of identity that is founded on customs and traditions, both material and non-material, and it was the permanent refuge in which we settle far from the social and cultural battles that are practiced and conducted by us. The principle of opposition, contradiction and destruction.
However, all of this was in the era of the tribal system, which was based on collective and solidarity work and aspects of cooperation in production and exchange instead of the economic and social criticism that had become prevalent. Once the structure of tribal society disintegrated and the monetary economy pattern emerged after colonialism during a group of economic and social transformations as well, Until the social lifestyle of the oasis communities in the southeast was known, there were many contradictions identified in daily practices between what is modern, modern, and renewed, and those who claim authenticity, heritage, and identity belonging. Between this and that, the traditional society still suffers from social duality that led it to be stripped of its identity, and after this it gained a new outlook. New and renewed, reflected in the practices related to celebration, weddings, and holidays, as well as internal migration from the village to the city, and we began to see what is known as village urbanization in occasions and lifestyle, but these developments and changes remained unable to affect some features of culture, which are represented in some social behaviors, customs, and traditions. Close to the local self and characterized by traditionalism.
The Tenaset and Tiwizi rituals in particular are considered among the most prominent social/economic determinants that determine the style of thinking of each individual within the group on the one hand, and the group for itself on the other hand. Meaning that the kind of liberation, openness, and positive social-moral interaction that characterizes the Amazigh tribal tribal system is the result of the management of social and economic issues (economic here in the narrow sense provided by the historical understanding of the tribal system), and therefore it is natural that the pattern of collective management of societal infrastructure issues is reflected. Issues of the economy and society in general (on the superstructures of society), which are the collective ways of thinking and their cultural structures, including cultural and sacred belief (what is meant by the infrastructure are the qualities that distinguish a social system in terms of its paths in managing its tangible and tangible material issues in society. As for the other structure, which is the superstructure, it is directly what What is meant by collective thinking methods: social solidarity as an example, as a human value whose content varies depending on the type of production mode: meaning the production system/economic system, and we also say the primitive communal mode of production, the feudal mode of production, and the capitalist, socialist, or other mode of economic production.
This means that social existence is what determines consciousness l'existance sociale qui détermine la conscience, as Karl Marx expressed, that social, economic, life, and daily managerial existence is what determines the way we think and the ways we deal with each other; That is, the respect that a person had as a male/female resulted from the nature of the relationship prevailing in the society of production and consumption.
Between the constant and the shifting, women also remain, amidst these contradictions, a major actor, as it is necessary to point out their functional roles, as they are the main axis of the cultural geography of oasis society, and they have a major role in controlling the socio-cultural structures of the southeastern oases, and because they have also become the new actor in several areas that were not previously Practice it before.
And a relationship to the roles of the oasis woman in changing the ways of thinking about the infrastructure in relation to the superstructures, as the women’s mentality differs between the village and the city. In the southeast, the cultural mentality is limited to the boundaries of the area in which she lives, and the prevailing custom is for the woman to remain in her home, and for her to go out is considered an insult to belief. Her role is confined to the home, and that the respectable woman is the one who stays in her home to ensure her entry into the marriage stage and is subject to the societal description that is saturated with a masculine culture - “Elise n Taghmi” - which is a phrase in Amazigh that means in Arabic - “daughter of the house” - meaning that she is a respectable woman who is obedient to her family.
As I write this study; I remembered a small story that I experienced closely. This was when I came from a distant city to my town of Tata for an administrative purpose. On my way to the relevant administration in Tata, while I was waiting for a taxi, I encountered a father with his daughter heading to the same department in the same administration. After that, we took the taxi. Together, in a conversation between the father and the driver, he told him that he had come with his daughter to the city for the purpose of fulfilling an administrative purpose that concerned his daughter, and that she was not at the level to bear the responsibility alone, and that she was merely a guardian who must bear it unless it was written for her to marry and transfer guardianship to her husband. After the father completed his speech, the driver added. He stressed that he must leave a special space for his daughter so that she can mingle with the girls of the city and acquire a strong personality that might encourage her to rebel against societal norms.
We all hope that one day we will be able to open such spaces for discussion that will make us produce a female mentality that differs from the prevailing culture and participate in activating development plans as a mature and responsible actor, and take real steps on our way towards a society of parity at all levels and areas of life, just as women were real actors. From within the Amazigh Amazigh communities, where the word - Tamaghart - is nothing but evidence of calling women Tamaghart, an indication of the political leadership in the tribe for women in contrast to the sheikh of the tribe, who is called “Amghar”. In this regard, an actual change must be observed in the cultural geography of the female mentality in this area in order for women to move. From a passive mentality to an active mentality in society.
Between the structure of values and the structure of tribal society, we should have referred to the thesis of the composite society by the French sociologist Paul Bascon, which is based on the transcendence and overlapping of several societies in one society, so that all patterns of living, behavior, and cultures become subject to the dualities of the mixed society, such as the sacred and the profane, myth and reality, as well as authenticity and contemporaneity.
Moroccan society, according to Baskun, is characterized as “ a makhsanian leader society that controls a tribal system that is in the process of extinction, and controls a patriarchal system that still exists within the family cell and through the status of women, but this entire feudal system is under the control of the global capitalist system, as is evident in The field of production and exchange .”
From this standpoint, the south-east has known the dynamism of the value system that is based on the ecological system and social life, and the latter is consistent with the factors emerging from the oasis society, which desires development and modernization without moving away from the original origins of the oasis and its unique cultural features.
When we talk about the structure of the tribal system in the southeast or the oasis society in general, we must point out a basic problem, which is:
?How was the structure of village society dismantled through the identity language adopted by these communities
Hence, we must also recall the first chapter, entitled “ The Constant and the Variable in Amazigh Culture .” From the book “ Amazigh and Linguistic and Cultural Politics in Morocco” by Ahmed Boukous .
Bocus gave a detailed proposal, which is based on the social cohesion of the village, and he singled out the family, which is considered the nucleus that transformed from a collective nucleus to an individual one that glorifies private property instead of collective cooperation. In this chapter, the author highlighted the characteristics of rural art, as it contradicts cultural aesthetic principles, especially those inspired by the West, and this culture reflects its absolute interest in water, women, and the relationship between earth and sky.
On the other hand, it becomes clear to us that Amazigh culture suffers from the danger of appropriation due to cultural and linguistic marginalization caused by the disintegration of the social and economic structure of Amazigh society. The disintegration of rural society today was due to several factors mentioned previously, resulting in a marginalized rural cultural situation, reflected in particular in Amazigh literature and arts. .
Oral literature is a model.
The Amazigh culture is one of the oldest cultures that continues despite the pressures it has experienced, but it has remained steadfast and preserved its authenticity.
Poetry is considered the home of the Amazigh identity, as most of its discourse was oral only and was not dated until recently, when many researchers and academics rushed to defend this cultural heritage. We find in the book “ The Amazigh Oral Discourse in Ashtouken (2017) ” by the researcher “Mahdi Mofti” an attempt to fortify This culture was described by the researcher in his book:
“ The reference is a result of a choice fueled by the weakness of working on this intangible heritage, despite the importance of the cultural heritage it contains and the depth of humanity reflected in the inherited expressions, practices, symbols and representations, which enable us to have a deeper understanding of our culture and our human existence in its past and its current transformations. From this standpoint, we seek to understand its various aspects and move to... Collect, record and classify it. Contributing to documenting its various components is the only way to preserve it from disappearance and transmit it to subsequent generations. This documentation also constitutes an entry point towards valuing it and investing it in our present through contemporary literary and artistic works .”
For the sake of sealing
Today we need researchers and academics to write down this collective property so that our culture can prevail, which some people are still ashamed to declare in public.
We also need to activate gender equality so that women can emerge from their deep slumber to declare their right to be active in society alongside men and to break social taboos so that humanity can triumph in the face of those who stand up to that.
Today, in the southeast, there is a fertile space for social studies, where responsibilities are diminished and the region suffers from flattening identities and is beginning to show signs of civilization. There is nothing wrong with renewal and modernization, but authenticity must be preserved first.
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