Title: Imlil, a Moroccan mountain community in change /
Authors: Miller, James Andrew.
Date: 1984
Publisher: Westview Press,
Physical description: xxvii, 285 pages : maps, illustrations ; 23 cm
Language: English
LC classification: H
Abstract: This monograph, a study in social geography, presents a portrait of the Ait Mizane of Imlil, ";a group of people whose sense of self and place is one" (p. 5). Living in relative isolation in the mountain valleys of the central High Atlas, south of Marrakesh, they "move in concert" (p. 24) with their bled, or homeplace, largely staying put in preference to leaving their "secure anchor" (p. 23) and their tie to all that is known and predictable. The paradox is that while "tethered in place," they are yet "moving in change" (p. 28). Caught in the grip of the Annalist's longue duree, they nevertheless undergo a series of nearly imperceptible transformations in a setting where government is aloof and planned developments are unlikely. Like shifting patterns of terrace cultivation, the changes that do occur take place always "inside the same frame" (p. 142). Most Imlilis are conservative, and among them only a few individuals take the risks necessary to initiate change. If, as in the case of all the labor migrant, one leaves the bled, it is only in order to return to it better off than before. -- From http://www.jstor.org (Sep. 16, 2016).
Contents: A prologue to geographical change ---- 1. Imlil : place and process --- 2. Sources of identity : environment and tribe --- 3. Identity of the homeplace: the past as present --- 4. Rhythm of the land: crops and herbs --- 5. The garage and suq: centers of economic change --- 6. Ali Baghmad: man of Imlil --- 7. Movement and motivation: impetus to change ---- Conclusion.
Notes: Includes index.
Subject headings (LCSH): Berbers--Morocco--Imlil.; Imlil (Morocco)--Social life and customs.