Brokerage, Compensation and Reproduction of the Discharge

Résumé 0

Community reparation for the areas affected by the presence of secret detention centers during the “Years of Lead” (1992-2002), and the development of areas impacted by mining operations were two programs initiated in the framework of the associative seminars organized in 2004 and 2012, respectively, in Zagora, south-eastern Morocco. The compensation for the collective harm suffered by the communities living near the detention centers and mining sites raises questions about the reproduction of discharge strategies through associative brokers and local notables. Exploring how compensation is allocated across different geographical scales, this article highlights the contrast between the rise to generality of the former and the descent to particularity of the latter. It shows how these contrasts shed light on the approaches to collective loss evaluation adopted by the State, the mining company, brokers, notables and activists. As well as analyzing the compensation of affected communities, it examines how these actors are themselves remunerated in return for this discharge and delegation, and the ensuing benefits reaped by both the State and the mining company in their policies defended by these intermediaries.