CONFERENCE: The Tangier Statute Centenary Conference (Hybrid, 18 DEC 2023)

 

(image source: university of Luxemburg)

Abstract:

Bringing together scholars from both sides of the Mediterranean, this conference aims to renew interest in the International Zone of Tangier (1925–56). It will take place 100 years to the day after France, Spain, and the United Kingdom signed the Zone’s constitutive treaty, known as the Tangier Zone Statute. The agreement, which was later joined by Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Italy, subjected Tangier to a special regime: although nominally an integral part of Morocco, the city and its surroundings were to a large extent subject to the joint administration of Western powers. This regime, which has been variously described as ‘shared colonialism’ (Daniela Hettstedt) or ‘unequal federal integration’ (Paul Reuter), was deeply problematic. It shared the discriminatory premise of colonialism, disregarded Moroccans’ aspirations to independence, and even hampered the city’s economic development rather than fostering it. And yet, the Zone’s multinational institutional arrangements, its experience of legal pluralism and treaty-based constitutional rights, as well as its reliance on tax evasion schemes, are certainly worthy of scholarly interest and investigation. Considering that they served as an inspiration for post-WWII endeavours of global and regional integration and governance, they are also of interest to a broader 21th century audience. 

Program here. 

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