This paper deals with the Moroccan youth’s crisis of identity. In the third millennium globalization permits the importation of goods and commodities from all over the world; and culture as well. If trade and industry constituted in the twentieth century an exclusively one-sided Western hegemony, culture as a soft power, penetrating continents from all sides, remains untractable and intangible for most.
It perniciously enters homes and minds, subverting local customs and beliefs, and is all in the more pervasive that those it targets are unaware of its influence. The first element it seems to undermine is nationalism. By reinforcing the sense of belonging to the same nation, culture and the nationalism it entails, it establishes a popular power that strengthens the ethnic identity of a people.
Geographical frontiers are being replaced by a sense of belonging to a virtual community which is supposed to hold the same opinions, to visualize the same news, to watch the same movies, and to listen to the same music. This fact is observable in young Moroccans’ changes of behaviour and perception of self. Their being online most of the time puts them in permanent contact, and from an early age, with other cultures that may become substitutes of their own, which may induce a sense of not belonging to their native culture, and alienation from the constituents of their identity as Moroccans.
Table of Contents
1. Surfing on Debilities: Moroccan Youth’s Crisis of Identity
Objectives and Research Focus
This paper examines the identity crisis experienced by Moroccan youth in the era of globalized digital culture. It investigates how the internet and the influx of foreign ideologies challenge traditional notions of Moroccan national identity, nationalism, and gender roles, ultimately leading to a sense of alienation and behavioral maladaptation among adolescents.
- The impact of globalization and the internet on local cultures and national identity.
- The shift from traditional parental authority to virtual mentorship and its effect on generational gaps.
- The rise of Western-inspired subcultural identities (e.g., Goths, Satanists) among Moroccan youth.
- The socio-cultural resistance to and incompatibility of Western gender and feminist discourses within the Moroccan context.
- The psychological consequences of conflicting cultural signals on Moroccan adolescents.
Excerpt from the Book
Surfing on Debilities: Moroccan Youth’s Crisis of Identity
Geographical frontiers are being replaced by a sense of belonging to a virtual community which is supposed to hold the same opinions, to visualize the same news, to watch the same movies, and to listen to the same music. Resistance to the colonial enterprise in the past comprised a physical confrontation within a territorial delimitation, as corroborated by the colonial and the post-colonial periods of the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. The colonizer, especially originating from the European space, was identified as white and supremacist, while the colonized was conceived of as inferior and inoffensive. The import of this conflictual relationship differed for each, but the rules were rather clear, controlled by international laws, and the battle waged between them generally utilized conventional weapons, and this somehow facilitated the apprehension of its mechanisms and the reaction to them. Now, within the new virtual geography with no frontiers, no armies, neither police to rebute foreign ideologies from permeating national territories, the paradigms of the battle between colonialism and national resistance have changed, as conventional warfare has become the ultimate resort, and is often no option at all. Shifting from the concrete to the virtual, it now engages a technology that tolls the bells for the natives’ resilience, making colonialism more potent as it is relentlessly rampant yet undetectable. The constant endeavour to fuse culture with globalization has turned it into a nebulous entity.
Summary of Chapters
1. Surfing on Debilities: Moroccan Youth’s Crisis of Identity: The chapter explores how globalization and digital technologies erode traditional Moroccan nationalism, contributing to a profound identity crisis and social alienation among young people who feel disconnected from their native cultural roots.
Keywords
Moroccan youth, identity crisis, globalization, internet, subculture, nationalism, westernization, gender roles, alienation, digital culture, tradition, social norms, adolescent psychology, resistance, cultural hybridity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this publication?
The work focuses on the struggle of Moroccan youth to define their identity in an era dominated by uncontrolled globalization and the internet, which undermines traditional national and cultural bonds.
What are the central themes discussed in this paper?
The central themes include the erosion of nationalism, the rise of digital subcultures, the changing role of the family in the 21st century, and the clash between Western liberal ideologies and traditional Moroccan social structures.
What is the primary goal of the research?
The primary goal is to analyze how the transition from traditional to digital socialization processes leads to psychological distress, alienation, and identity confusion among young Moroccans.
Which scientific approach does the author employ?
The author uses a socio-cultural analysis, integrating historical, psychological, and sociological perspectives to interpret how globalized digital spaces influence local behavioral patterns and self-perception.
What does the main part of the paper address?
The main part addresses the shift from physical to virtual communities, the influence of foreign media on Moroccan self-identification, the mimicry of Western subcultures like Satanism and Gothicism, and the resistance to Western gender theories.
Which keywords best characterize the work?
Key terms include Moroccan youth, identity crisis, globalization, internet, subculture, nationalism, and gender roles.
Why are Western subcultures like "Goths" or "Satanists" mentioned as significant in the Moroccan context?
They are mentioned to illustrate the aimless and often superficial adoption of Western symbols by Moroccan youth who are trying to navigate a void between tradition and modernity.
How is the concept of gender theorized within this study?
The study argues that Western discourses on gender and feminism are often incompatible with the Moroccan social order, where gender roles are deeply rooted in religious and traditional frameworks rather than individualistic performance.
What is the significance of the "virtual ombilical cord" metaphor used in the text?
It symbolizes the constant, dependency-driven connection between Moroccan adolescents and the internet, which replaces traditional family and social guidance with a flow of foreign, often conflicting, information.
What is the author's conclusion regarding the current state of Moroccan youth?
The author concludes that young Moroccans are trapped in a fragile transition phase, leading to high rates of psychological trouble, as they struggle to reconcile their native heritage with an invasive global culture.
- Citar trabajo
- Najia Ajraoui (Autor), 2016, Moroccan Youth’s Crisis of Identity. Surfing on Debilities, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/984663
