In the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, far from the hustle and
noise of urban centers, lies a village made of mud and rock, barely
discernible from the surrounding landscape. Yet a closer look
reveals a carefully planned community of homes nestled above the
trees, where rock slides are least frequent, and steep terraces of
barley fields situated just above spring flood level. The
Berber-speaking Muslims who live and farm on these precipitous
mountainsides work together at the arduous task of irrigating the
fields during the dry season, continuing a long tradition of
managing land, labor, and other essential resources collectively.
In Moroccan Households in the World Economy, David Crawford
provides a detailed study of the rhythms of highland Berber life,
from the daily routines of making a living in such a demanding
environment to the relationships between individuals, the
community, and the national economy.
Demonstrating a remarkably complete understanding of every
household and person in the village, Crawford traces the
intricacies of cooperation between households over time. Employing
a calculus known as "arranging the bones," villagers attempt to
balance inequality over the long term by accounting for
fluctuations in the needs and capacities of each person, household,
and family at different stages in its history. Tradition dictates
that children "owe" labor to their parents and grandparents as long
as they live, and fathers decide when and where the children in
their household work. Some may be asked to work for distant
religious lodges or urban relatives they haven't met because of a
promise made by long-dead ancestors. Others must migrate to cities
to work as wage laborers and send their earnings home to support
their rural households.
While men and women leave their community to work, Morocco and
the wider world come to the village in the form of administrators,
development agents, and those representing commercial interests,
all with their own agendas and senses of time. Integrating a
classic village-level study that nevertheless engages with the
realities of contemporary migration, Crawford succinctly summarizes
common perceptions and misperceptions about the community while
providing a salient critique of the global expansion of
capital.
In this beautifully observed ethnography, Crawford challenges
assumptions about how Western economic processes transfer to other
contexts and pulls the reader into an exotic world of smoke-filled
kitchens, dirt-floored rooms, and communal rooftop meals -- a world
every bit as fascinating as it is instructive.
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