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Abstract
Self-governance and responsibility are two traits associated with neoliberal citizenship in scholarly and popular discourses, but little of the literature on this topic focuses on North Africa. My goal, in this article, is not only to fill this void but also to complicate understandings of neoliberalism through an examination of the relationship between reproductive health care, development policy, and popular Islamic beliefs in Morocco. My discussion is based on fieldwork in Rabat, Morocco, which included observations in health clinics, interviews with patients and staff, and visits to patients’ homes. By analyzing the childbearing and childrearing practices of Moroccan women who visited the clinics, I pose that neoliberal logic cannot be predefined or understood as a monolithic concept. I demonstrate that women were active in their own governance and accountable for their reproductive behaviors, but they did so because of their understandings of what Islam says about fertility and motherhood.
Notes
1. I do not provide details of the clinic locations to protect the privacy of my participants. I have changed all names in this article.
2. This was despite the fact that King Hassan II had signed the 1966 UN declaration recognizing the severity of unplanned population growth and the importance of family planning for the well-being of parents, children, and the nation (Grosse Citation1982).
3. This is a long loose fitting robe with a hood.
4. See Laborde (Citation2008) and Shirazi (Citation2001) for more on Muslim dress.
5. This is an annual gynecological and breast exam to screen for any potential health issues.
6. Qur’an 17:31.
7. For comparative purposes, in Egypt, the median age at marriage for women in 2000 was 19.5 years and the median age at first birth was 21.6. For Turkey in 2003, the ages were 20 and 21.8 years, respectively (D’Addato et al. Citation2007).
8. I also spoke with male family members whenever possible. Yassine was apt to participate in this conversation, I believe in part because I was a ‘western’ non-Muslim woman. He felt the need to explain the tenets of Islamic motherhood to me.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Cortney Hughes Rinker
Cortney Hughes Rinker has a PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine, and is now assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University and faculty affiliate of Women and Gender Studies and Middle East and Islamic Studies.