Tunisia

An Arab Anomaly
Erscheinungsjahr 2017
ISBN: 978-0-231-17950-8
Verlag: Columbia University Press

Buch, Englisch, 416 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 238 mm x 164 mm, Gewicht: 730 g

The Arab Spring began and ended with Tunisia. In a region beset by brutal repression, humanitarian disasters, and civil war, Tunisia's Jasmine Revolution alone gave way to a peaceful transition to a functioning democracy. Within four short years, Tunisians passed a progressive constitution, held fair parliamentary elections, and ushered in the country's first-ever democratically elected president. But did Tunisia simply avoid the misfortunes that befell its neighbors, or were there particular features that set the country apart and made it a special case?

In Tunisia: An Arab Anomaly, Safwan M. Masri explores the factors that have shaped the country's exceptional experience. He traces Tunisia's history of reform in the realms of education, religion, and women's rights, arguing that the seeds for today's relatively liberal and democratic society were planted as far back as the middle of the nineteenth century. Masri argues that Tunisia stands out less as a model that can be replicated in other Arab countries, but rather as an anomaly, as its history of reformism set it on a separate trajectory from the rest of the region. The narrative explores notions of identity, the relationship between Islam and society, and the hegemonic role of religion in shaping educational, social, and political agendas across the Arab region. Based on interviews with dozens of experts, leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens, and a synthesis of a rich body of knowledge, Masri provides a sensitive, often personal, account that is critical for understanding not only Tunisia but also the broader Arab world.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Masri, Safwan M.

Weitere Mitwirkende

Anderson, Lisa

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Afrikanische Geschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Studien zu einzelnen Ländern und Gebieten
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Gewalt Revolutionäre Gruppen und Bewegungen, Bewaffnete Konflikte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Maps
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
I. Tunisian Spring: Timeline of Tunisia’s Revolution
1. Can Tunisia Serve as a Model?
2. Prelude to Revolution
3. If the People Will to Live
4. A Remarkable Transition
5. The Morning After
II. Roots of Tunisian Identity
6. Carthage
7. Tunisian Islam
8. Influencing Rivalries
9. The Age of Modern Reform
10. 1956
III. L’École, la Femme, et “Laïcité”
11. The Father of Tunisia
12. Putting Religion in Its Place
13. Educating a Nation
14. A Different Trajectory
15. The Education Paradox
Epilogue: An Arab Anomaly
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Glossary
Selected Bibliography
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Safwan M. Masri is Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University. He holds a senior research scholar appointment at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs and is an honorary fellow of the Foreign Policy Association. Previously vice dean of Columbia Business School, he earned his Ph.D. from Stanford in 1988. Masri lives in New York and Amman.

Lisa Anderson is the James T. Shotwell Professor Emerita of International Relations at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and former president of the American University in Cairo. Her books include The State and Social Transformation in Tunisia and Libya, 1820-1980 (1986) and Pursuing Truth, Exercising Power: Social Science and Public Policy in the Twenty-first Century (Columbia, 2003).