Rethinking phosphate infrastructure in Morocco: Technopolitics, extractivism, and Islamic environmental ethics

Abstract

Following the 2020 global crisis, food security became a crucial focus, elevating Morocco’s phosphate industry to a new level of global significance. Phosphate production is not only linked to fertilizers but also influences green energy transitions and economic growth. Since its discovery, phosphate extraction has been viewed only as a technical objective economic resource for exploitation. However, scholarship reveals its subjective ideological nature, especially within the postcolonial context of Morocco, where large-scale projects often serve the interests of colonial powers and capitalism. This research examines Morocco’s phosphate industry not only as a system of material extraction and distribution, but as an epistemological regime that shapes which forms of knowledge and ethics are deemed legitimate. Drawing critiques from technopolitics, extractivism, and epistemic violence, the study explores how phosphate infrastructure and extraction establish certain knowledge and worldviews and erase other alternatives. In response, it proposes Islamic environmental ethics, grounded in concepts like khilāfa, mīzān, and ʿadl, as an alternative framework for rethinking the phosphate infrastructure. By reintroducing Islamic ethical thought into the academic realm, the project promotes a decolonial approach. It criticizes Morocco’s extractivist model by reviving neglected Islamic knowledge and highlighting its importance for sustainable governance. This approach adds to broader conversations on environmental justice, development ethics, and the re-politicization of infrastructure in the Global South.