Narratives of social change in the Maghreb: ideology, discourse… democracy

Abstract: This article is the introduction and justification of the special issue on narratives of social change in the Maghreb. It presents the main theoretical and conceptual frameworks used in the different articles in this volume. Especially relevant among them is the discussion of the place of discourse in the theoretical framework of Post-orientalism developed by Hamid Dabashi (2009, 2012) and in Post-colonial studies. In this regard, the relationship between ideology and discourse (Van Dijk, 2011) is introduced and discussed in connection with the concept of social change. Social change is understood as a broad narrative comprised of a diverse textuality that belongs to areas such as intellectual discourse, literature and jurisprudence, and includes the gender perspective. Keywords: Social change / Narrative / Ideology / Discourse / Maghreb