El impacto del Colonialismo sobre la sociedad rural tradicional magrebí

Abstract

This article shows a general panorama of the rural traditional society in the Central Maghreb: Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. The social statutes, land tenure and the system of life in the rural milieu are summed up. In the second part, the impact of Colonialism over rural society is analyzed. The consequences of Colonial era reach disastrous proportions: expropiations of land's peasants, sustenance of oppressive traditional structures. The Maghrebi peasants become impoverished and fall into abject poverty; the overwhelming majority of peasants suffers from food inadequacy. The demographic explosion in the rural milieu caused by campaign of vaccination made by the colonial health authorities, with the consequent reduction of death rate and the maintenance of birth rate, led to the massive annual emigration of thousands of poor peasants towards the urban centres.