Reimagining Citizenship and Environmental Activism: Youth-Led Resistance in Morocco's Imider Protest Camp

This paper examines the Imider protest camp in southeastern Morocco, located in the Atlas Mountains, as a case study of youth-led environmental activism in the Mediterranean region. It highlights how young people are navigating the challenges of the Anthropocene while redefining notions of citizenship and political engagement. The Imider movement, primarily led by working-class youth and women, represents a broader shift towards autonomous political mobilization 'from below' in response to environmental degradation and socioeconomic marginalization.

Drawing on the concept of 'lived citizenship,' we analyze how young activists in Imider are creating new forms of political subjectivity that challenge traditional hierarchies and state ideologies. The protest camp's innovative organizational structure, the Agraw, exemplifies how youth are reinventing traditional practices to promote horizontality, consensus, and gender equality in decision-making processes.

We argue that the Imider movement illustrates a significant trend among Mediterranean youth: the intersection of environmental activism with struggles for social rights, indigenous rights, and the preservation of rural livelihoods. By consciously distinguishing themselves from urban, middle-class activist movements, these young protesters are giving new political meaning to their local environment while simultaneously connecting their struggle to global networks of resistance against extractivism and dispossession.

The paper also explores how Imider's youth activists leverage transnational solidarity networks and digital media to amplify their cause, linking their local environmental concerns to broader global issues. This approach demonstrates the potential of Mediterranean youth to drive regional change through innovative forms of environmental activism that transcend national boundaries and conventional political structures.

By examining the Imider protest camp, this study contributes to our understanding of how Mediterranean youth are responding to the challenges of the Anthropocene, reshaping political engagement, and forging new pathways for environmental and social justice in the region.