“It is necessary to highlight the good news in the Arab world and not focus solely on the negative aspects, such as religious extremism.” These words from Professor Bichara Khader can serve as a premise for the ‘Tunisia, Flowers of a Revolution’ cycle organised by the Three Cultures Foundation during the month of September. Indeed, almost 6 years after the unrest that led to the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime and after the so-called ‘Tunisian Revolution’ or ‘Jasmine Revolution’ lit the spark of hope for change across the Arab world, little is known about the political, economic or social development of that revolution, its merits or demerits and, ultimately, the outcome of the only “revolutionary” process that has resulted in the establishment of a new political system.
The Three Cultures cycle aims precisely to fill this gap through a series of activities centred on Tunisia, such as a film exhibition, masterclasses or artistic expressions like calligraphy. This week's ‘Reflections’ feature a selection of the material we have available at Three Cultures to get to know this country better.
We also offer the video of the meeting ‘Fractures of the Mediterranean: Radicalisms and Fears’, where Professor Khader uttered the phrase that begins these ‘Reflections’ and which focused on the difficulties faced by the media in providing extensive and specialised coverage of the southern Mediterranean region, which would serve to obtain a less fractured and negative image of it.
‘Mediterranean Fractures. Radicalism and Fears’. Zouhir Louassini, Bichara Khader and Javier Fernández Arribas
Communicating, understanding and publicising the Mediterranean are the great challenges facing the media in light of the sociopolitical changes of recent years in this region. Starting from this statement, Bichara Khader, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Studies and Research on the Contemporary Arab World at the University of Louvain, and Zouhir Louassini, a Moroccan journalist for the Italian broadcaster Rainews24, break down their views on the main obstacles that would need to be overcome to meet these challenges.
In Professor Khader's opinion, the Mediterranean continues to be an enigma for Europe, where the media resorts to a religious key to explain issues of a demographic, historical, geographical, geopolitical, etc. nature; whilst a monolithic view of the Arab-Muslim world predominates. This lack of understanding and knowledge has led to a dangerous increase in Islamophobia in Europe. For Louassini, “right now, in Europe, Islam is synonymous with terrorism, whether we like it or not” and the very functioning of the media, with its space limitations, sector crisis and audience measurement, makes it very difficult to modify this view.
An excessive focus on issues such as Islamic State, the proliferation of talking heads without specialist training on these matters, or the precarious economic state of newsrooms, have contributed to a failure to find language that bridges the two cultures, widening the gap between north and south and hindering the creation of a zone of peace and security in the Mediterranean and true intercultural dialogue in the region.
The editor of the magazine Atalayar, Javier Fernández Arribas moderated this meeting, which took place on Friday 3 June 2016 in the Main Hall of the University of Málaga’s Rectorate.
Approaching Tunisia: Three Cultures
All the material recommended in this section is available on the website of the Fundación Tres Culturas (www.tresculturas.org) or in our Specialised Library, which also offers the possibility of collective loans of some of the works mentioned above (for more information: http://www.tresculturas.org/club/PAUTAS.pdf). The opening hours in summer are from Monday to Friday from 9:30 to 14:00.
Magazine cultures ‘Tunisia in Transition’ (Ed. Three Cultures of the Mediterranean Foundation, 2012)
The Three Cultures Foundation dedicated an issue of its monographic review cultures to Tunisia on the occasion of the anniversary of the revolution that ended a regime which had controlled the country for 24 years. The special issue offers analytical articles on the first year of the new political system's journey, reviewing the causes that led to the collapse of President Ben Ali's government and the organisation of dissent; the economic structure inherited from the old regime; the creation and evolution of the Islamist party al-Nahda, winner of the first Constituent Assembly elections, and, especially, the challenges of the transition, such as the implementation of a new electoral code or the drafting of a new Magna Carta.
The special issue constitutes a useful tool for building a comprehensive framework on the causes and evolution of the Jasmine Revolution, and it had the collaboration of prestigious academics, such as Laryssa Chomiak, Director of the Centre d’Etudes Maghrebines de Túnez (CEMAT), University of Maryland, or Larbi Sadiki, Professor of Middle East Politics at the University of Exeter; as well as direct participants in the revolution, such as the blogger Lina Ben Mhenni, or protagonists of the Transition, such as Asma Nouira, Professor of Political Science at the University of Jandouba in Tunisia and member of the High Committee for the Achievement of Revolutionary Objectives, Political Reform and Democratic Transition.
This number of cultures It also includes a chronology of the most important events in the country's history since its independence in 1956, demographic and economic indicators, as well as a list of the main challenges facing the country.
The full monograph on cultures dedicated to Tunisia can be consulted at: http://revistaculturas.org/archivo/tunez-en-transicion/
The revolution of dignity. Lina Ben Mhenni (Ediciones Destino, 2011)
In this brief work, Lina Ben Mhenni recounts some of the key actions taken by Tunisian bloggers in the months leading up to the fall of ZABA, the nickname for deposed Tunisian president Zine Al Abidine Ben Ali. The author herself, through her blog ‘Tunisian girl’, actively participated in organising these protests and in disseminating images and testimonies of the regime's repression of them. Without a doubt, one of the most important moments of this period, which Ben Mhenni helped to propagate, was the self-immolation of the young Mohamed Bouazizi, which the blogger recounts along with a list of similar cases that had taken place elsewhere in the country. Ben Mhenni also experienced censorship, even falling victim to the theft of her computers, video camera, and other graphic material which was taken from her parents' house.
For this Clausewitzian cybernetic apprentice, the internet represents an unprecedented instrument of mobilisation and an incredible network of solidarity, through which they were able to share tactics even with colleagues from other Arab countries such as Egypt. The book boasts a foreword by Maruja Torres.
Lina Ben Mhenni is the author of one of the articles in the magazine cultures which the Tres Culturas Foundation dedicated to Tunisia, ‘A Tunisian girl. Reflections of a blogger’, in which she deliberates on the emergence of Islamist political movements after the triumph of the revolution and the victory of the Islamist party Ennahda in the country's first democratic elections. The full article can be found at the following link: http://revistaculturas.org/a-tunisian-girl-reflexiones-de-una-bloguera/
Lina Ben Mhenni's blog in Arabic, French, and English can be found at the link: http://atunisiangirl.blogspot.com.es/
Islam and freedom. The historical misunderstanding. Mohaned Charfi (Editorial Almed, 2011)
“Reconciling Islam and modernity is a necessary condition for tolerant, democratic Muslim states that respect human rights and public and private freedoms to exist.
For this reason, it is necessary for the theses advocated by progressive Muslim thinkers to triumph over the traditional and archaic interpretations that prevent these societies from advancing.
In this clear, brave, and concise essay, Mohamed Charfi proposes a profound review of Islamic thought and insists on two fundamental points for this democratic evolution: a critical re-reading of Muslim History and Law, and the primary role of education, the need to teach and disseminate an open and tolerant Islam.
(…) this book, written by one of the staunchest opponents of the deposed Tunisian government of Ben Ali, is a benchmark for necessary democratic reforms in the Arab world. (Ed. Almed).
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