Corporatism as a Contested Sphere: Trade Organization in Morocco under the Vichy Regime

Abstract

This paper reviews the history of local professional associations in Morocco under the French Protectorate and focuses on the period of Vichy rule in the colony (1940-1942). It examines the partial application of corporatism in Morocco as Vichy’s preferred method of professional organization, which was expected to turn local attention away from a perceived nationalism to a seemingly benign economic activity. By investigating a local corporatist association operating in those years, this paper shows that the corporatist project unwittingly turned into a nationalist one not of its own making. The paper further examines the relationships between economy, colonialism, nationalism, racism, and Muslim-Jewish relations in Morocco during the Vichy period.