Dr. Rikke Hostrup Haugbølle is an independent senior researcher and consultant. She has served as a Tunisia country expert advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and International NGOs, and as an advisory board member of the British All-Party Parliamentary Group on Tunisia. Her current research focuses on ‘everyday violence and security’ in Tunisia, and economic reforms with a focus on the Tunisian tourism sector. She earned her PhD in Middle East Studies from the University of Copenhagen and has taught at the Royal Danish Defense College and University of Southern Denmark.
Since the intensive campaign of civil resistance that culminated in the January 2011 ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali after 24 years in power, Tunisia has undergone a political transition that has produced a new constitution, unharnessed civil society, and delivered much-needed political and economic reforms. Although the transition process has also included security sector reform (SSR), Tunisians remain insecure — subjected to a steady, unabated diet of everyday violence.
“Together for Tunisia”: Tribal Structures and Social and Political Mobilization
This essay demonstrates that national unity was constructed and utilized as a tool by the Tunisian state for the purpose of consolidating power, and that traditional kin-based and family ties have existed parallel to the formal structures of both the state and civil society as frames for social and political activity.The essay shows that these historical frames for organization were revitalized and renewed after the popular uprising in 2011.
