https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3631-4381
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Abstract
This article accounts for the hybrid transformations of the Tunisian Islamist movement. While most of the literature affirms the end of Political Islam in Tunisia through evidence of the Ennahda’s compromise with secular forces and the decision to keep politics separate from religion, this contribution offers a new perspective by shifting the unit of analysis from the political party to civil society actors. Findings show that, due to new opportunities and constraints that characterise the transition process, Islamist activists engaged in the associations have embarked on various trajectories that transform their relationship with the political party, and more generally with politics. This article examines three relational logics involving Islamist activists engaged in the associational field and the political party: professional empowerment, party complementarity and political challenge. The three logics trace a hybrid dynamic of reconfiguration of the Tunisian Islamist movement that challenges binary interpretations of transformation based on the dichotomy of radicalisation/moderation or on teleological narratives that foretell the end of political Islam in Tunisia.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to the anonymous reviewers, who provided insightful comments that allowed me to improve the quality of the manuscript. All mistakes are my responsibility.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Islamism (or political Islam) is a revolutionary project aiming at transforming politics and society through Islamic-inspired reforms. According to the definition given by Olivier Roy, ‘Islamists’ are Islamic activist groups for whom Islam is as much a political ideology as a religion (Roy Citation1992).
2 There was already a community of Islamist activists operating discreetly in Tunisia before 2011. This community fragmented after 2011, as new opportunities allowed many groups to flourish and pursue different objectives (McCarthy Citation2018).
3 After 2011, Islamic activism in Tunisia crystallised into two main forms of socio-political engagement: Islamism, represented by the party Ennahda, and Salafism, mainly composed of the party Jabhat al-Islah and the Salafi-jihadi movement Ansar al-Sharia. This article focuses on the trajectories of Islamist activists who drew their origins from the Tunisian Islamist movement or joined the Ennahda party after its full legalisation in 2011.
4 All research participants provided appropriate informed consent, as requested by the ethics committee of my university. To protect the anonymity of my informants, the names of associations and their members have been changed or are not mentioned explicitly in the text.
5 In this article, ‘Islamism’ is intended to refer to one specific form of Islamic activism. Other forms of Islamic activism in Tunisia involve Salafi or Sufi movements.
6 Author’s interviews with activists in the charitable sector in all four governorates under investigation.
7 Author’s interview, Tunis, May 2016.
8 Author’s interview, Sfax, May 2016.
9 https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2016/05/19/rached-ghannouchi-il-n-y-a-plus-de-justification-a-l-islam-politique-en-tunisie_4921904_3210.html (accessed 20 October 2022).
10 Centre d’Information, de Formation, d’Études et de Documentation sur les Associations, http://www.ifeda.org.tn/fr/index.php?lang=fr&id_page=5 (accessed 13 September 2022).
11 Author’s interview, Tunis, July 2018.
12 The RCD (Rassemblement Constitutionnel Démocratique) was the quasi-hegemonic party under Ben Ali’s regime. Author’s interview, Tunis, July 2018.
13 Author’s interview, Sfax, May 2016.
14 Author’s interview extracts.
15 Facebook page of the Front of Islamic associations: https://www.facebook.com/front.national.des.associations.islamiques (accessed 20 October 2022).
17 Author’s interview with the general director of the presidential administrative section dealing with the affairs of political parties and associations, Tunis, July 2018.
18 Author’s interview, Tunis, June 2018.
19 Author’s interview, Tunis, October 2017.
20 Finding collated from author’s interviews in the four governorates between 2015 and 2019.
21 Author’s interview with the president of a charitable association based in Ettadhamen, November 2016.
22 Author’s interview, Médenine, February 2017.
23 Author’s interview with the president of a charitable association, Siliana, June 2016.
24 Author’s interview extracts.
25 Moshen Jendoubi, vice-president of OTDS, spent his exile with his family in Germany during the regime’s repression in the 1990s. This long period spent abroad allowed him to acquire sound expertise and to develop several strategic contacts, who nowadays embrace the association.
26 Author’s interview with the president of the charitable network in Siliana, June 2016.
27 Author’s interview, Tunis, July 2018.
28 Author’s interview, Tunis, July 2019.
29 Author’s interview with H. Ellouze, Hammamet, May 2016.
30 The Individual Liberties and Equality Commission (Colibe) was appointed by the former President of the Republic, Béji Caïd Essebsi, on 13 August 2017. It prepared a report on the country’s legislative reforms regarding individual freedoms.
31 Author’s interviews with demonstrators, Tunis and Sfax, October 2018.
32 Author’s interview, Tunis, July 2018.
33 Author’s interview, Tunis, July 2018.
34 Author’s interview, Médenine, May 2017.
35 Author’s interview with the party’s spokesperson, Tunis, October 2018.
36 Author’s interview with the secretary-general of Association D, Tunis, June 2018.
37 Author’s interview with the president of a Salafi association banned in 2015, Tunis, August 2018.
38 Statements were retrieved from activists’ Facebook and Twitter profiles.
39 Author’s interview with a former activist of the movement, Tunis, July 2019.
40 Author’s interview with a former activist of the movement, Tunis, July 2019.
41 http://kapitalis.com/tunisie/2015/09/15/mosquee-sidi-lakhmi-de-sfax-limogeage-de-limam-radical-ridha-jaouadi/ (accessed 20 October 2022).
42 Facebook page and Twitter profile of the imam Ridha Jaouadi.
43 The Coalition comprises a wide array of diverse forces: Salafi actors, former Ennahda activists, remnants of the dissolved Leagues for the Protection of the Revolution, independent journalists and bloggers (Blanc and Sigillò Citation2019).
44 Author’s interview with a member of Itilaf Karama, October 2019.
45 Author’s interview with former Ennahda activists who joined Itilaf Karama, Tunis, October 2019.
46 Author’s interview with a former member of Ennahda who joined the Coalition, Tunis, October 2019.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Ester Sigillò
Ester Sigillò is Postdoctoral Researcher and Adjunct Professor in International Relations at the University of Bologna. She holds a PhD in political science from Scuola Normale Superiore. After completing her PhD, she served as a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies. Her research interests include Islamic activism and democratisation in the Maghreb.