III�4�1� Introduction

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III.4. the origins of tunisia’s Women’s rights Movement: a Social Movement

theory approach

X

^énia

s

^ipos⁴⁷

Abstract

International relations remain state-centric; non-state actors however, also contribute to shaping political, economic and social processes of the international order.

From among these, women’s rights movements in Tunisia are examined in this paper.

The growing significance of women in all fields of the Tunisian society can be observed since the country’s independence from France (1956). The article aims to define the elements that played an important role in shaping women’s rights on the macro level, the factors that contributed to women’s empowerment on the micro one, and the ways of interaction between the two levels. The complexity of the topic requires the application of a multidisciplinary approach where the interactions of different actors are taken into account on both macro and micro levels. Besides clarifying the basic concepts, both qualitative and quantitative analyses are applied to identify the aforementioned conditions. The Tunisian case study is analysed on the basis of the top-down ‒ bottom-up approach through the application of the social movement theory of Anthony Oberschall, according to whom several conditions (discontentment, risks, and political opportunities) contribute to the mobilization of social movements. While the process of Tunisian feminism is described as a state-controlled process, the research proves that the roots of Tunisian feminism have long been present in the Tunisian society.

Keywords: gender equality, Arab Spring, social movement theory, Tunisian feminism

47 PhD Student – CUB IR Doctoral School, xeni-khali2008@live.fr

The Arab Spring brought about an active participation of women’s rights activists and organizations with the aim of achieving total equality in all fields, including the same share in inheritance, eradicating violence

committed against women and abrogating the law of 1973 that, in accordance with Islamic principles, banned Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men (m^oghadam, v. m. 2018). Moreover, as a consequence of the outstanding role Tunisian women played in the Arab Spring, a widespread debate

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also started in the post-Arab Spring period. The debate had its effect mainly on the drafting of Tunisia’s new constitution between 2011 and January 2014, the first draft of which intended to bring in the

‘complementary clause’ of article 28: “women are complementary to men” (complementarity clause) (n^oRBaKK, m. 2016).

In order to better understand the current processes and the discourse on gender equality as an outcome of the events of 2011 it is indispensable to retrace the situation of Tunisian women from the years before the coming to power of the first president of independent Tunisia, Habib Bourguiba (1958‒1987) (B^oulaRes, h. 2011), until the beginning of the 1960’s.

The time frame is also restricted until the first half of the 1960’s as by this period the measures of the modernization process of Bourguiba had already had their effect on Tunisian women. Several aspects prove that Tunisia stands out from other Muslim countries in terms of women’s rights. Above all, in 1956 Le Code du Statut

Personnel (Personal Status Code, henceforward referred to as CSP) abolished polygamy, provided women the right to divorce and to child custody, and set a minimum age for marriage⁴⁸. In 1958 Bourguiba introduced compulsory education for young women and people living in rural areas (chaBchouB, a. 2014). Moreover, with the introduction of family planning in the 1960’s and the legalization of abortion in 1973 (j^omieR, a. 2011) Tunisia anticipated France, where it was only legalized in 1975.⁴⁹ Concerning the political arena, the aforementioned achievements brought about an outstanding number of female representatives sitting in the Tunisian parliament.

According to the ranking of the

48 Code du Statut Personnel [1956], http://observatoire-enfance.tn/

documents/code%20du%20statut%20 personnel_fr.pdf (Retrieved 22 February, 2020)

49 According to Islam, abortion is only allowed if pregnancy poses a serious threat to the life of the woman and a choice must be made between the life of the mother and her baby. The legalization of abortion in Tunisia was also exceptional if we compare Tunisia with other Muslim countries in the region. Except for married women who can prove that pregnancy carries a physical threat to their health, in Morocco abortion is strictly prohibited by the law and is punished by

imprisonment or fines (el amRaoui, a.

‒ Naami, m. 2018).

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Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) based on information provided by national parliaments since 1997, a significant increase can be observed regarding the proportion of seats held by women in the Tunisian parliament. Compared with data from 1997 when women made up only 6.7% of all seats of the parliament and Tunisia was only the second Arab country in the ranking after the Syrian Arab Republic (9.6%), in 2004 a significant increase took place (the proportion of seats held by women increased to 22.8% from the ratio of 11.5% of the previous years). With regard to the up-to-date ranking of IPU (as of 1 October, 2019), with 78 female representatives out of the 217 places in the National Constituent Assembly (NCA), which means a 35.9% representation, Tunisia occupies the 31st place worldwide and ranks the highest among other Arab countries⁵⁰. The proportion of seats held by Tunisian women can also be regarded as an outstanding achievement if we compare it with the international standard, i.e. the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), which

50 See Women in national parliaments.

Inter-Parliamentary Union, https://data.ipu.org/women-ranking?month=10&year=2019 (Retrieved 22 February, 2020)

document determined that 30%

participation is necessary for the interests of women being taken into account⁵¹.

The paper aims to approach the question of Tunisian feminism through the application of the social movement theory which will enable the writer to identify the interactions of different actors on the level of the political leadership and that of the sub-state actors. By taking into account the historical, political, economic, social and even cultural characteristics of the North African country at the dawn of its independence and by applying the social movement theory of Anthony Oberschall (o^BeRschall, a. 2001), the paper seeks to analyse the circumstances which resulted in encouraging women to stand up for their rights and which pushed the government to dedicate a significant role to the empowerment of women in its modernization efforts. Concerning the contribution of non-state actors

51 See under The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its Optional Protocol Handbook for Parliamentarians [2003]. Inter-Parliamentary Union, https://www.ipu.org/resources/

publications/handbooks/2016-07/

handbook-parliamentarians- convention-elimination-all-forms- discrimination-against-women-and-its-optional (Retrieved 3 April, 2020)

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to shaping political, economic and social processes in a still state-centric international order, it can be said that the establishment of a strong and dominant position of Tunisian women in the society resulted in the proliferation of civil societies. Among them, the creation of l’Union Nationale de la femme tunisienne (National Union of Tunisian Women) in 1956 can be highlighted⁵² as this organization still plays an important role and determines the shaping of the political and social processes.

Finally, the paper aims to verify that while the empowerment of Tunisian women is described as being state-controlled (state feminism), the roots of Tunisian feminism have long been present in the Tunisian society.

III�4�2� Social movement

In document Contemporary global challenges in geopolitics, security policy and world economy (Pldal 171-174)