Re-thinking Secularism in Post-Independence Tunisia

McCarthy, Rory

Abstract

The victory of a Tunisian Islamist party in the elections of October 2011 seems a paradox for a country long considered the most secular in the Arab world and raises questions about the nature and limited reach of secularist policies imposed by the state since independence. Drawing on a definition of secularism as a process of defining, managing, and intervening in religious life by the state, this paper identifies how under Habib Bourguiba and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali the state sought to subordinate religion and to claim the sole right to interpret Islam for the public in an effort to win the monopoly over religious symbolism and, with it, political control. Both Bourguiba and Ben Ali relied on Islamic references for legitimacy, though this recourse to religion evolved to face changing contexts, and both sought to define Islam on their own terms. Bourguiba sought to place himself personally at the summit of power, while under Ben Ali the regime forged an authoritarian consensus of security, unity, and ‘tolerance’. In both cases the state politicised Islam but failed to maintain a monopoly over religious symbolism, facing repeated religious challenges to its political authority.

Citation

McCarthy, R. (2014). Re-thinking Secularism in Post-Independence Tunisia. The Journal of North African Studies, 19(5), 733-750. https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2014.917585

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: May 12, 2014
• Publication Date: 2014
• Deposit Date: Sep 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2019
• Journal: Journal of North African Studies
• Print ISSN: 1362-9387
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-9345
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 19
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 733-750
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13629387.2014.917585
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1288896
• Related Public URLs: https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:9d849aa6-eb8a-4522-a7c1-357fdc5e0767