Anarchism in Tunisia
has its roots in the works of the philosopher
Ibn Khaldun
, with the modern anarchist movement being first brought to the country in the late 19th century by Italian immigrants. The contemporary anarchist movement arose as a result of the
Arab Spring
and the aftermath of the
Tunisian Revolution
.
History
[
edit
]
The
Amazighs
of
early Tunisia
lived in semi-independent farming
villages
, composed of small, composite, tribal units under a
local leader
who worked to harmonize its
clans
.
[1]
Management of the affairs in such early Amazigh villages was probably shared with a council of
elders
.
[2]
With the
Phoenician
establishment of
Carthage
and other
city-states
, Amazigh villages were inspired to join together in order to marshall large-scale armies, which brought forth the
centralization
of leadership.
[3]
[4]
[5]
Tunisia was subsequently ruled as a state by the
Carthaginians
,
Romans
,
Vandals
and
Byzantines
, before coming under the control of the
Islamic Caliphates
. From the 10th-century onwards,
medieval Tunisia
was ruled as a monarchy by a series of Amazigh dynasties, including the
Zirids
,
Almohads
and
Hafsids
.
Bust of
Ibn Khaldun
, an early sociologist associated with the development of libertarian philosophy in Tunisia.
An early figure associated with the Tunisian libertarian movement was
Ibn Khaldun
, a 14th-century philosopher from
Tunis
,
[6]
particularly due to his book: the
Muqaddimah
. Having observed the earliest stages in the
primitive accumulation of capital
, Ibn Khaldun developed a
labor theory of value
.
[7]
He also developed a political theory of
social cohesion
known as
Asabiyyah
, describing a form of society united by
social solidarity
,
[8]
resembling a philosophy of
classical republicanism
.
[9]
In 1574,
Tunisia
was
conquered
by the
Ottomans
and integrated into the empire as a
province
. A
series of revolutions
during the late 17th century eventually resulted in the establishment of the autonomous
Beylik of Tunis
, governed by the
beys
, who retained control of Tunisia even after the
establishment
of the
French protectorate of Tunisia
.
When the
Risorgimento
established the united
Kingdom of Italy
, Tunis became a place of refuge for
Italians
fleeing persecution by the new government, with many Italian anarchists moving to the city.
[10]
In the late 19th-century, a number of
Italian language
anarchist periodicals began to be published in Tunis. These included
The Worker
(1887-1904) and
The Human Protest
(1896), edited by the
Calabrian
doctor Nicolo Converti, as well as
The Social Vespers
(1924) and
The Anarchist Vespers
(1924), edited by Paolo Schicchi.
[11]
Following the
Tunisian independence
from
France
,
Habib Bourguiba
became the first
President of Tunisia
, constituting a
one party state
under the
Socialist Destourian Party
and proclaiming himself
president for life
.
[12]
The government briefly experimented with
socialism
during the 1960s, under the direction of the trade union leader
Ahmed Ben Salah
, but this was brought to an end in 1969 after a series of peasant revolts against the policies
collectivization
and
nationalization
.
[13]
In 1987, Bourguiba was removed in a
coup d'etat
by
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
, who assumed the presidency.
[14]
Ben Ali transformed the ruling party into the
Democratic Constitutional Rally
and began a series of reforms, increasing economic
privatization
.
[15]
Controls on the political opposition were loosened, but in practice, the opposition had little power to affect change.
Anti-government demonstrations during the
Tunisian revolution
, which overthrow the government of
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali
.
High unemployment, food inflation, corruption, a lack of political freedoms and poor living conditions led to a
wave of demonstrations
breaking out in December 2011, catalyzed by the
self-immolation
of
Mohamed Bouazizi
. Tunisian anarchists were among the participants, including the Disobedience Movement, which called for occupations, general strikes and other acts of civil disobedience.
[16]
Trade unions
also played an integral role in the protests, calling a wave of strikes against the government.
[17]
After 28 days of sustained
civil resistance
, in January 2011, the government of Ben Ali was overthrown and Tunisia began a process of
democratisation
.
[18]
The new political climate created by the revolution allowed for the emergence of the Tunisian anarchist movement into the public sphere. But it also saw the growth of
Islamism
on the political stage, with the
Ennahda Movement
winning the
2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly election
and forming a
coalition government
.
[19]
[20]
The Disobedience Movement subsequently denounced what they described as a "counter-revolution" by the new Islamist-led government and issued a declaration of principles calling for the establishment of
libertarian socialism
in Tunisia.
[21]
On February 6, 2013, the
left-wing opposition
leader
Chokri Belaid
was assassinated outside his house by an unknown gunman,
[22]
trigerring a
political crisis
and igniting a renewed series of protests against the new government.
[23]
[24]
During the protests, the Ennahda Movement's headquarters were set on fire, in an action claimed by Tunisian anarchists.
[25]
In March 2013, the Disobedience Movement published an anti-capitalist manifesto, in response to the holding of the
World Social Forum
in Tunis.
[26]
At the beginning of July 2013, the Disobedience Movement also issued a call for unity of the revolutionary elements in Tunisia.
[27]
On July 21, 2013, three affiliates of the
anarcha-feminist
group Feminist Attack were arrested and beaten by police for painting graffiti on the wall of the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
[28]
On July 25, 2013, another left-wing political leader
Mohamed Brahmi
was assassinated outside his home.
[29]
[30]
The Disobedience Movement responded by calling for the establishment of local and regional councils, with the purpose of coordinating the
self-management
of community resources, as an alternative to the existing state system.
[31]
In August 2013, the feminist activist
Amina Tyler
announced that she was leaving the
Femen
organization due to
Islamophobia
. Instead she linked up with Feminist Attack, participating in one of their actions in Tunis, and published a photo of herself topless while lighting a cigarette using a
molotov cocktail
, with the words "we don't need your democracy" and a
circle-a
painted on her torso.
[32]
In January 2021, a series of
protests
started after police aggression against a shepherd in
Siliana
,
[33]
which saw rioting spread across Tunisia and the deployment of police and the army in several cities, with the arrest of hundreds of people.
[34]
Anarchists were among a broad coalition of participants in the protests, which notably did not include Islamic fundamentalists, demanding the abolition of police oppression and the rejection of the
International Monetary Fund
. One of the groups that participated in the protests was the anarchist and anti-fascist collective "The Wrong Generation", which popularized among protestors the slogan "there's anger under the ground", possibly inspired by
Aboul-Qacem Echebbi
's poem
To the Tyrants of the World
.
[16]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Soren, David; Slim, Hedi; Ben Khader, Aicha Ben Abed (1990).
Carthage: uncovering the mysteries and splendors of ancient Tunisia
.
New York
:
Simon and Schuster
. pp. 44?45.
OCLC
1035427234
.
- ^
Shaw, Brent D.
(1995). "The structure of local society in the early Maghrib: the elders".
Rulers, Nomads, and Christians in Roman North Africa
.
Aldershot
: Variorum. pp. 23?26.
ISBN
9780860784906
.
OCLC
906661740
.
- ^
Brett, Michael; Fentress, Elisabeth (1996).
The Berbers
. pp. 24?25.
OCLC
1044662894
.
- ^
Laroui, Abdallah (1977).
The History of the Maghrib
.
Princeton
:
Princeton University Press
. pp. 61?62.
ISBN
9781400869985
.
OCLC
1148857679
.
- ^
Trump, David H. (1980).
The Prehistory of the Mediterranean
.
New Haven
:
Yale University Press
. pp. 55?57.
OCLC
1014973030
.
- ^
Plawiuk, Eugene (4 February 2006).
"Ibn Khaldun; a 14th Century Arab Libertarian"
. Le Revue Gauche
. Retrieved
22 March
2021
.
- ^
Oweiss, Ibrahim M. (1988).
"Ibn Khaldun, the Father of Economics"
.
Arab Civilization: Challenges and Responses
.
New York University Press
.
ISBN
978-0-88706-698-6
.
- ^
Zuanna, Giampiero Dalla; Micheli, Giuseppe A. (2004).
Strong Family and Low Fertility
.
Dordrecht
: Kluwer Academic. p. 92.
ISBN
9781402028373
.
OCLC
760404185
.
- ^
Weir, Shelagh (2007).
A Tribal Order
.
Austin
:
University of Texas Press
. p. 191.
ISBN
9780292714236
.
OCLC
475246718
.
- ^
G. Masi (2003).
"Anarchism in Tunisia: Nicolo (Nicolantonio) Converti, 1855-1939"
. In
Antonioli, Maurizio
; Bertolucci, Franco (eds.).
Dizionario biografico degli anarchici italiani
. Vol. 1. Translated by Nestor McNab.
Pisa
: Biblioteca Franco Serantini. pp. 439?442.
ISBN
9788886389877
.
OCLC
799624251
.
- ^
Bettini, Leonardo (1976).
"Early anarchist periodicals in Tunisia"
.
Bibliografia dell'anarchismo
. Vol. 2. periodici e numeri unici anarchici in lingua italiana pubblicati all'estero (1872-1971). Translated by Nestor McNab.
Firenze
: Crescita politica editrice.
OCLC
917645638
.
- ^
Brown, Roslind Varghese; Spilling, Michael (2008).
Tunisia
.
New York
:
Marshall Cavendish
. p. 37.
ISBN
9780761430377
.
OCLC
740541891
.
- ^
Sami Ben Abdallah.
"Ahmed Ben Salah"
(in French)
. Retrieved
18 June
2016
.
- ^
"A Coup is reported in Tunisia"
.
The New York Times
.
Associated Press
. 7 November 1987.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
2 May
2010
.
- ^
"Ben Ali's biography:
Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of the Tunisian Republic"
. Changement.tn. 2009. Archived from
the original
on 21 October 2010.
- ^
a
b
"From the 2011 Revolution to the Revolt of 2021"
.
CrimethInc.
9 February 2021
. Retrieved
22 March
2021
.
- ^
"Trade unions: the revolutionary social network at play in Egypt and Tunisia"
. Defenddemocracy.org. Archived from
the original
on 28 February 2011
. Retrieved
11 February
2011
.
- ^
Ryan, Yasmine (26 January 2011).
"How Tunisia's revolution began ? Features"
. Al Jazeera
. Retrieved
13 February
2011
.
- ^
Feldman, Noah (2011-10-30).
"Islamists' Victory in Tunisia a Win for Democracy: Noah Feldman"
. Bloomberg
. Retrieved
2011-10-31
.
- ^
Merone, Fabio; Cavatorta, Francesco (17 August 2012).
"The Emergence of Salafism in Tunisia"
.
Jadaliyya
. Retrieved
22 March
2021
.
- ^
Disobedience Movement (November 2012).
"Anarchists Against Counter-Revolution in Tunisia"
. Translated by Ryan Harvey. Robert Graham
. Retrieved
22 March
2021
.
- ^
"Tunisia Assassination Puts Country at Crossroads"
.
Al-Monitor
(Business News). 8 February 2013. Archived from
the original
on 2 November 2013
. Retrieved
25 October
2013
.
- ^
"Tunisia: Chokri Belaid assassination prompts protests"
.
BBC News
. 6 February 2013
. Retrieved
6 February
2013
.
- ^
Loveday Morris (6 February 2013).
"Uprising in Tunisia as regime critic is murdered"
.
The Independent
. London.
Archived
from the original on 2022-05-07
. Retrieved
7 February
2013
.
- ^
Tashjian, Yeghig (April 2013).
"The Fruits of "Arab Spring"; Islamism, Anarchism & Feminism"
. Strategic Outlook. p. 6
. Retrieved
22 March
2021
.
- ^
Disobedience Movement (19 March 2013).
"Tunisian Anarchists Against World Capitalism"
. Tahrir-ICN
. Retrieved
22 March
2021
.
- ^
Disobedience Movement (6 July 2013).
"A Call for Unity"
. Tahrir-ICN
. Retrieved
23 March
2021
.
- ^
Khlifi, Roua (22 July 2013).
"Anarchist Feminist Activists Claim Brutality by Tunisian Police"
.
Tunisia Live
. Archived from
the original
on 7 August 2013.
- ^
Najjar, Yasmin (28 July 2013).
"Tunisia buries slain politician"
.
Magharebia
. Tunis
. Retrieved
29 July
2013
.
- ^
"Tunisian politician Mohamed Brahmi assassinated"
.
BBC News
. 25 July 2013
. Retrieved
25 July
2013
.
- ^
Disobedience Movement (1 August 2013).
"The Disadvantaged Shall Live! The Disadvantaged Shall Rule!"
. New York Year
. Retrieved
23 March
2021
.
- ^
Bonal, Cordelia (20 August 2013).
"Amina Sboui quitte les Femen pour "islamophobie"
"
.
Liberation
. Archived from
the original
on 12 October 2014
. Retrieved
23 March
2021
.
- ^
Min, Alif (January 15, 2021).
"Heurts avec la police suite a l'agression d'un berger par un agent a Siliana"
.
Kapitalis
(in French).
- ^
"Clashes break out in Tunisia after death of protester"
.
Aljazeera
. January 26, 2021.
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Sovereign states
| |
---|
States with limited
recognition
| |
---|
Dependencies and
other territories
| |
---|