The Origins of Spanish Colonialism in Morocco, 1859-62

a Global Feminist Microhistory

Goikolea-Amiano, Itzea

This book investigates the beginnings of Spanish colonialism in Morocco in the mid-nineteenth century, focusing on the Spanish invasion of northern Morocco and the twenty-seven-month occupation of the city of Tetouan from 1859 to 1862. By homing in on specific events, scenes, and records, the book reveals both the micro-processes of everyday life and the larger systems of beliefs, values, and representations informing them. It scrutinises the contours of the incipient Hispano-Moroccan modern colonial formation by recourse to comparative analysis of dynamics across the Islamicate, Mediterranean, and Atlantic worlds, while also emphasising the importance of local notions, spaces, and peoples in the modelling of colonial epistemologies and practices. The author adopts different disciplinary approaches, questions the dominant modes of historical knowledge production, and explores colonial power from a feminist intersectional perspective, thus acknowledging the polysemic nature of colonial rule for different historical subjects – including the lower-class and female subalterns.