Abstract
This chapter examines the role and impact of women’s activism in Tunisia’s 2011 revolution, and the current status of the women’s rights movement in Tunisia is also described. The tensions between the secular feminists and religious (especially Salafist) hardliners are presented, and implications for Tunisia’s future political economy as it pertains to gender relations and issues are articulated. Amartya Sen’s Social Choice Theory and Comparative Democratization and Revolution theories are applied to gender equality in the Tunisia context. Observations about similar women’s activism in post–Arab Awakening MENA countries are presented. The MENA region is notorious for woeful violations of women’s rights and freedoms, as it is a predominantly patriarchal, traditional, and conservative, and often sexist and misogynist, society. It has been thought that with women so prominently active in the 2011 Arab Awakening, they would be ensured greater political participation and rights and freedoms. The results have been extremely disappointing for women’s rights and empowerment in the MENA region, as the patriarchal system continues to win out against feminist activism.
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Notes
- 1.
See “Egypt: A Year after ‘Virginity Tests’, Women Victims of Army Violence Still Seek Justice,” Amnesty International, March 9, 2012: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2012/03/egypt-year-after-virginity-tests-women-victims-army-violence-still-seek-justice/
- 2.
“Prominent Saudi Women Activists Arrested,” Human Rights Watch (HRW), August 1, 2018: https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/08/01/prominent-saudi-women-activists-arrested
- 3.
Ibid.
- 4.
Hayat Alvi, “Women’s Rights Movements in the ‘Arab Spring’: Major Victories or Failures for Human Rights?” Journal of International Women’s Studies (JIWS), volume 16, issue 3, July 2015: https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1828&context=jiws, p. 298.
- 5.
Ibid.
- 6.
Ibid.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Ibid.
- 9.
Margot Badran, “Islamic Feminism: What’s in a Name?” Al-Ahram Weekly, 17–23 January 2002: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2002/569/cu1.htm
- 10.
Ibid.
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Eleanor Beardsley, “In Tunisia, Women Play Equal Role in Revolution,” National Public Radio (NPR), January 27, 2011: https://www.npr.org/2011/01/27/133248219/in-tunisia-women-play-equal-role-in-revolution
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
Ibid.
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
“Women in National Parliaments,” June 30, 2012: http://www.ipu.org/wmn-e/classif.htm
- 17.
Tarek Amara, “Thousands Rally in Tunisia for Women’s Rights,” Reuters, August 14, 2012: http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFBRE87C16320120814
- 18.
Ibid.
- 19.
Ibid.
- 20.
Ibid.
- 21.
For more details about Tunisia’s Islamic history, see Anne Wolf, Political Islam in Tunisia: The History of Ennahda (London: Hurst and Company, 2017).
- 22.
Giulia Daniele, “Tunisian Women’s Activism after the January 14 Revolution: Looking within and towards the Other Side of the Mediterranean,” Journal of International Women’s Studies (JIWS), volume 15, issue 2, July 2014: https://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1750&context=jiws, p. 18.
- 23.
Ibid., pp. 18–19.
- 24.
Ibid., pp. 19–20.
- 25.
Ibid., p. 20.
- 26.
Ibid., p. 29.
- 27.
See Anne Wolf, Political Islam in Tunisia: The History of Ennahda (London: Hurst and Company, 2017), pp. 15–16.
- 28.
Wolf, pp. 15–16.
- 29.
Daniele, p. 25.
- 30.
Taylor Luck, “Islamist and Feminist: A New Generation Stakes Its Claim,” The Christian Science Monitor (CSM), June 18, 2018: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2018/0618/Islamist-and-feminist-A-new-generation-stakes-its-claim
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
Ibid.
- 33.
Ibid.
- 34.
Daniele, p. 29.
- 35.
Interview with Meherzia Labidi, Tunisian Parliament, Bardo, Tunis, July 18, 2017.
- 36.
Ibid.
- 37.
Ibid.
- 38.
Ibid.
- 39.
Ibid.
- 40.
Mona Eltahawy, “Seven Years after the ‘Arab Spring,’ Tunisia is Leading in Another Revolution – on Women’s Rights,” The Washington Post, January 31, 2018: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/01/31/seven-years-after-the-arab-spring-tunisia-is-leading-another-revolution-on-womens-rights/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7062213b5ccf
- 41.
Ibid.
- 42.
Ibid. Emphasis added.
- 43.
Hayam Adel, “Egypt Struggles to End Female Genital Mutilation,” Reuters, March 8, 2018: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-womens-day-egypt/egypt-struggles-to-end-female-genital-mutilation-idUSKCN1GK1ZL
- 44.
Alvi, “Women’s Rights Movements in the ‘Arab Spring’: Major Victories or Failures for Human Rights?” p. 315.
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Alvi, H. (2019). Women in the Frontlines: Tunisia’s Revolution. In: The Political Economy and Islam of the Middle East. Political Economy of Islam. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17050-9_3
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