Maroon 313Comparing social spaces in the public sphere
Cybercafés are contemporary additions to an existing network of thou-
sands of traditional public cafés, which occupy a central place in the
biography of Morocco. The first rudimentary cafés arrived in the North
African country shortly after the introduction of Arab and Persian pur-
veyors of Islam in the seventh century. With the spread of Islam and the
growth of trade routes from the Sahara to the heart of the Middle East,
coffee stalls became dependable areas of respite during the journey. From
there, cafés spread into towns and rural outposts. In the late nineteenth
century, when European immigration to Morocco began to increase dra-
matically, another style of café was introduced to the country. The insti-
tutionalization of French rule in 1912 saw yet another wave of historic
transformation in the role and uses of Moroccan cafés. Like the growth of
cafés in previous periods, the spread of cybercafés in the twenty-first cen-
tury is symptomatic of historic transformations afoot in the public sphere.
These changes are thrown into relief by comparing cybers to conventional
cafés in Casablanca.
e vast majority of Casablanca’s traditional cafés can be separated Th
into two genres, les cafés populaires and thematic cafés. Thematic cafés
range from glaciers—ice-cream cafés—and high modern espresso salons
to French Baroque spaces. What distinguishes the cafés populaires from
thematic cafés is in part the stylized atmospheres of the latter. Cafés pop-
ulaires heavily outnumber all types of thematic cafés and are by far the
most common form of coffeehouse in Moroccan cities. When viewed
from the street, thematic cafés appear to be populated almost exclusively
by men; though if one enters and goes up to the second floor or to the
back, it is possible to see a few young women either in groups or with a
male companion. Women’s place in thematic cafés is literally relegated to
small corners and is also, as we will see, highly contested. In the cafés pop-
ulaires, there simply are no women. These sites maintain a “traditional”
moral order by enforcing gender segregation.^35 Here one will always find a
steady stream of conversation, a waiter ready to take your order, a droning
television and a cluster of clientele—made up of men only.
afés populairesC essentially function as privatized domains of mas-
culinity within the public sphere. They are imbued with the colloquial