Complexity, cultural theory and strategies for intervention in the High Atlas of Morocco

As a result of the Rio Conference, mountain areas have been placed at the centre of several international initiatives to prepare suitable strategies for long-term development. In recent years, the concepts of cultural theory and complexity have been proposed as frameworks in which to develop practical agenda encouraging the sustainable development. Any such agenda must account for the dynamic interaction between the particular physical conditions of mountains and the livelihoods of the population, itself a long-standing problem for geographers. This paper draws upon a number of development initiatives in the Moroccan High Atlas to provide a critique of these concepts. It outlines the initiatives for livestock management, soil erosion, arboriculture and tourism as they represent four important areas of policy debate. The principal features of cultural theory and the use of complexity thinking in social science are then outlined. This provides an opportunity to recast the development problems in the light of these concepts, and it is argued that co-evolution, diversity and indeterminacy provide helpful pointers to the design of successful strategies.