Anarchism in Tunisia has its roots in the works of the philosopherIbn Khaldun, with the modern anarchist movement being first brought to the country in the late 19th century by Italian immigrants. The contemporary anarchist movement arose as a result of theArab Spring and the aftermath of theTunisian Revolution.
TheAmazighs ofearly Tunisia lived in semi-independent farmingvillages, composed of small, composite, tribal units under alocal leader who worked to harmonize itsclans.[1] Management of the affairs in such early Amazigh villages was probably shared with a council ofelders.[2] With thePhoenician establishment ofCarthage and othercity-states, Amazigh villages were inspired to join together in order to marshall large-scale armies, which brought forth thecentralization of leadership.[3][4][5] Tunisia was subsequently ruled as a state by theCarthaginians,Romans,Vandals andByzantines, before coming under the control of theIslamic Caliphates. From the 10th-century onwards,medieval Tunisia was ruled as a monarchy by a series of Amazigh dynasties, including theZirids,Almohads andHafsids.
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An early figure associated with the Tunisian libertarian movement wasIbn Khaldun, a 14th-century philosopher fromTunis,[6] particularly due to his book: theMuqaddimah. Having observed the earliest stages in theprimitive accumulation of capital, Ibn Khaldun developed alabor theory of value.[7] He also developed a political theory ofsocial cohesion known asAsabiyyah, describing a form of society united bysocial solidarity,[8] resembling a philosophy ofclassical republicanism.[9]
In 1574,Tunisia wasconquered by theOttomans and integrated into the empire as aprovince. Aseries of revolutions during the late 17th century eventually resulted in the establishment of the autonomousBeylik of Tunis, governed by thebeys, who retained control of Tunisia even after theestablishment of theFrench protectorate of Tunisia.
When theRisorgimento established the unitedKingdom of Italy, Tunis became a place of refuge forItalians fleeing persecution by the new government, with many Italian anarchists moving to the city.[10] In the late 19th-century, a number ofItalian language anarchist periodicals began to be published in Tunis. These includedThe Worker (1887-1904) andThe Human Protest (1896), edited by theCalabrian doctor Nicolò Converti, as well asThe Social Vespers (1924) andThe Anarchist Vespers (1924), edited by Paolo Schicchi.[11]
Following theTunisian independence fromFrance,Habib Bourguiba became the firstPresident of Tunisia, constituting aone party state under theSocialist Destourian Party and proclaiming himselfpresident for life.[12] The government briefly experimented withsocialism during the 1960s, under the direction of the trade union leaderAhmed Ben Salah, but this was brought to an end in 1969 after a series of peasant revolts against the policiescollectivization andnationalization.[13] In 1987, Bourguiba was removed in acoup d'état byZine El Abidine Ben Ali, who assumed the presidency.[14] Ben Ali transformed the ruling party into theDemocratic Constitutional Rally and began a series of reforms, increasing economicprivatization.[15] Controls on the political opposition were loosened, but in practice, the opposition had little power to affect change.
High unemployment, food inflation, corruption, a lack of political freedoms and poor living conditions led to awave of demonstrations breaking out in December 2011, catalyzed by theself-immolation ofMohamed Bouazizi. Tunisian anarchists were among the participants, including the Disobedience Movement, which called for occupations, general strikes and other acts of civil disobedience.[16]Trade unions also played an integral role in the protests, calling a wave of strikes against the government.[17] After 28 days of sustainedcivil resistance, in January 2011, the government of Ben Ali was overthrown and Tunisia began a process ofdemocratisation.[18]
The new political climate created by the revolution allowed for the emergence of the Tunisian anarchist movement into the public sphere. But it also saw the growth ofIslamism on the political stage, with theEnnahda Movement winning the2011 Tunisian Constituent Assembly election and forming acoalition government.[19][20] The Disobedience Movement subsequently denounced what they described as a "counter-revolution" by the new Islamist-led government and issued a declaration of principles calling for the establishment oflibertarian socialism in Tunisia.[21]
On February 6, 2013, theleft-wing opposition leaderChokri Belaid was assassinated outside his house by an unknown gunman,[22] triggering apolitical crisis and igniting a renewed series of protests against the new government.[23][24] During the protests, the Ennahda Movement's headquarters were set on fire, in an action claimed by Tunisian anarchists.[25] In March 2013, the Disobedience Movement published an anti-capitalist manifesto, in response to the holding of theWorld Social Forum in Tunis.[26] At the beginning of July 2013, the Disobedience Movement also issued a call for unity of the revolutionary elements in Tunisia.[27] On July 21, 2013, three affiliates of theanarcha-feminist group Feminist Attack were arrested and beaten by police for painting graffiti on the wall of the Ministry of Women's Affairs.[28]
On July 25, 2013, another left-wing political leaderMohamed Brahmi was assassinated outside his home.[29][30] The Disobedience Movement responded by calling for the establishment of local and regional councils, with the purpose of coordinating theself-management of community resources, as an alternative to the existing state system.[31]
In August 2013, the feminist activistAmina Tyler announced that she was leaving theFemen organization due toIslamophobia. Instead she linked up with Feminist Attack, participating in one of their actions in Tunis, and published a photo of herself topless while lighting a cigarette using amolotov cocktail, with the words "we don't need your democracy" and acircle-a painted on her torso.[32]
In January 2021, a series ofprotests started after police aggression against a shepherd inSiliana,[33] which saw rioting spread across Tunisia and the deployment of police and the army in several cities, with the arrest of hundreds of people.[34] Anarchists were among a broad coalition of participants in the protests, which notably did not include Islamic fundamentalists, demanding the abolition of police oppression and the rejection of theInternational Monetary Fund. One of the groups that participated in the protests was the anarchist and anti-fascist collective "The Wrong Generation", which popularized among protestors the slogan "there's anger under the ground", possibly inspired byAboul-Qacem Echebbi's poemTo the Tyrants of the World.[16]
