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Tunisia's Postcolonial Identity Crisis: A Key to Understanding the Lure of Extremism
[working paper]
Corporate Editor
Forschungsinstitut der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik e.V.
Abstract In Tunisia today - a country burdened by a weak economy and experiencing precarious security - the hotly debated question of Tunisian identity opens up a vacuum for radical groups to fill. Since its independence in 1956, Tunisia has been through three major historic chapters, each offering strikingl... view more
In Tunisia today - a country burdened by a weak economy and experiencing precarious security - the hotly debated question of Tunisian identity opens up a vacuum for radical groups to fill. Since its independence in 1956, Tunisia has been through three major historic chapters, each offering strikingly different views of Tunisian identity: the era of Habib Bourguiba (1957-1987), of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali (1987-2011), and the revolutionary period that began in 2011. While the dictatorships of Bourguiba and Ben Ali were characterized by a top-down approach and a repression of all opposition, the post-2011 period of democracy and freedom of speech has allowed Tunisians to conduct grass-roots discussions of what they identify with. Different identity cards have been played in the newly introduced electoral game, however, which makes defining what it means to be Tunisian a divisive practice indeed.... view less
Keywords
national identity; post-colonial society; radicalism; historical development; oppression; dictatorship; democracy; formulation of political objectives; Tunisia
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
5 p.
Series
DGAP kompakt, 23
ISSN
2198-5936
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications