The primacy of political security : contentious politics and insecurity in the Tunisian revolution

The removal of Ben Ali's regime in Tunisia signalled the start of the Arab Spring. The abrupt nature of the regime change raises questions about why it happened in the way it did. This article examines the contextual factors that precipitated the regime change through the lens of political security. The aim is to examine how political insecurity in society led to the emergence of opposition sufficiently organized to unseat Ben Ali. The paper develops a framework to consider how the loss of legitimacy by the regime opened the space for opposition. Attempts to restrict opposition failed to address underlying claims, leaving the way open for the opposition to unite following the self-immolation of Mohammed Bouazizi

'Divided they stand, divided they fail': opposition politics in Morocco

The literature on democratization emphasises how authoritarian constraints usually lead genuine opposition parties and movements to form alliances in order to make demands for reform to the authoritarian regime. There is significant empirical evidence to support this theoretical point. While this trend is partly visible in the Middle East and North Africa, such coalitions are usually short-lived and limited to a single issue, never reaching the stage of formal and organic alliances. This article, using the case of Morocco, seeks to explain this puzzle by focusing on ideological and strategic differences that exist between the Islamist and the secular/liberal sectors of civil society, where significant opposition politics occurs. In addition, this article also aims to explain how pro-democracy strategies of the European Union further widen this divide, functioning as a key obstacle to democratic reforms

Confronting Authoritarianism: Order, Dissent, and Everyday Politics in Modern Tunisia

This dissertation is a study of contestation and resistance under authoritarianism based on field research conducted in Tunisia (2008-2010) and Ukraine (2007 and 2009). The central objective of this study is to shed light on forms of contestation and resistance that exist under closed political systems through a careful analysis of a select sample of individuals engaged in protest politics through extra-institutional channels. My purpose is to explore the understudied case of Tunisia under Zine Abedine Ben Ali before the January 2011 Jasmine Revolution. More specifically, to what extent was the sudden burst of large-scale protest against the authoritarian rule of ex-President Leonid Kuchma culminating in the 2004 Orange Revolution in the Ukraine relevant to an understanding of the sudden reversal of the Tunisian dictatorship? I argue that meaningful forms of contestation and resistance do exist under closed political systems, but they need to be located beyond formal political institutions. With elections in the Middle East and North Africa increasingly being co-opted by the state and civil society severely compromised, oppositional forces have had to turn elsewhere to have their voices heard. In this dissertation, I trace alternative political identities, forms of micro-contestation and attempts at direct resistance against the state. In particular, I examine extra-institutional political spaces, including soccer stadiums, subversion in print-publications and performing arts, internet mobilization campaigns via Facebook and Twitter, as well as loosely-organized street-based protests and strikes. The authoritarian state, I argue, does not always revert to repression of oppositional voices but also engages in a subtle dialogue with regime challengers. Such a dialogue can result in the opening of some areas, such as internet censorship and freedom of press, which are important platforms for the advancement of alternative and oppositional politics. On January 14, 2011, the Jasmine Revolution erupted in Tunisia followed by similar waves of resistance across the Middle East and North Africa. Where applicable, I link pre-Jasmine Revolution contestation to the widespread resistance that followed Ben Ali's resignation