Tunisian revolution: an “epistemological uprising” And a renewed HOPE

14th of January: in the coastal Tunisian city Of Bizerte

   It has taken me a lot of courage to start writing this piece and that is for a good reason. In fact, in a previous article[1] that I have published in “nawaat” I have explored some difficulties associated with trials at “defining” the Tunisian revolution and at developing a “standard phraseology” to denote it. An example of the latter is the fact that Tunisians still disagree about the sheer attribution of a “name” to the revolution, with differences ranging from “Jasmine revolution” all the way to “dignity revolution”. In that article I rather took a diplomatic and modest stance by merely calling for the initiation of a serious effort to create these definition and phraseology. On this article on the other hand I will explain my perception about the matter and hopefully participate with a brick in the building of a better understanding of what has happened in this country since the deposed president fled.

Let us start with the easiest part in this inquiry and use a proof-by-the-absurd method. Meaning that first I will examine what the revolution is indubitably not: The most popular “definition” that I think ought to be refuted is the cyber revolution claim. Many western and local commentators have called the events starting from the 17^th of December a Twitter or a Facebook revolution. The very cyber (or for the matter unreal) nature of these mediums demonstrates that they are not, alone, capable of encompassing all the aspects of the Tunisian revolution. There are rather the communication outlet and branch of the revolution: Not the revolution itself.

Another obvious observation is the weak ideological motivation of the crowds participating in the protests. The enemy was clear: RCD, Ben Ali and his clan per say, but the protesters did not have a clear idea of a precise dogma or established view on government that they fought for. Instead, the slogans focused on Freedom, social justice and Employment. These broad Slogans enabled people from various Ideological convictions, with differences amounting sometimes to enmities, to participate in the revolutionary effort hand in hand.

A controversial and less mentioned aspect, that I believe should be addressed nonetheless, is the “popular” involvement in the revolution. The question here is how popular was the revolution really? Even though unprecedented popular involvement proved to be a decisive factor, I believe we can only talk about a limited number or activists. By activists I mean people who had participated in the revolution not for motives of anger or moved by reprisal and retaliation for the death of a loved one or so. People who in fact have participated and organized because of purer belief in the cause of ousting the repressive regime founded by the president Bourguiba and consolidated by his successor Ben Ali. Amar Arfaoui is an active participant in the revolutionary effort of Bizerte.      He affirms that the number of protesters in Bizerte until the 14^th of January was actually little. In fact, he thinks 30 persons was the peak number they managed to gather. The picture on top this article (Amar arfaoui in green in the center of the image) shows what is thought to be the largest rally of protesters in Bizerte, a city of 230 000 citizens and yet, even after Ben Ali has fled, one can see that popular involvement had serious weaknesses in some cases.  

These previous points are in no way discrediting the merit of revolutionaries and activists. I rather mentioned them to show that no one specific dogma can be applied to the Tunisian revolution and “explain it”. It does not fit any previous models such as a communist revolution or an Islamist revolution. Yet, something really big and monumental happened in Tunisia:

An incredible arrangement of circumstances along with the heroic courage and bravery of protesters led to what I chose to call an “epistemological uprising”. Tunisia and the region in general, has been living on the margins of history for centuries. Meaning that we (as a collective), have left the sphere of actors in world history and succumbed to decadence or mere imitation of European powers. In Nietzschian terms, we have seized to be in the natural process of “becoming” and more or less froze as amazed bewilders in a culture that is not compatible with our natural development of costumes and ideas . On the other hand, after the revolution, we have succeeded to reenter “life” and the very basic struggle for freedom in its widest sense. We have not accomplished a dogmatic transition from monarchy to republicanism or from capitalism to socialism. Rather we have opted to have a chance at making that transition.

 The revolution did change some ontological realities and the biggest of which is the democratic process in itself and all the freedoms associated with it. Nevertheless I call it an epistemological uprising because it more importantly changed the Tunisian individual and communal way of considering the world and gain knowledge about it: Considering the world as an ongoing “becoming” and viewing oneself as an active participant in that process are all examples of novel notions for Tunisians. One can even call it in simple terms: HOPE. For maybe we have not achieved all the objectives and aspirations of the revolution but one can dare to hope that we will.

In my Opinion, the Tunisian Revolution is synonymous for hope and life. 

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[1] http://nawaat.org/portail/2011/06/18/crise-definition-revolution-tunisie/

Occupy Wall Street: The new “internationality”

An "oldie" one can say. I sent this article to the OWS journal right before they published the last issue.

As a Tunisian scholarship student in an international school in Italy (UWCad: united world college of the Adriatic), I get a “hands-on taste” of the general attitude and trends among intellectually engaged youth from around the globe towards the progressive revolutionary movements in the US and in the EU. I will thus attempt to shed some light on the global implications that the movement is most likely to have.

 It seems to me, that many of the intellectual and economic elite of our world still do not consider that the changes occurring in 2011 in the Arab world and now in America and Europe are “serious” ones. Many still consider it to be an immature gesture in the best case and pure vandalism in the worst. But I belong to an ever increasing number of optimistic citizens of this world that believe that the Occupy movement is peculiar and decisive regarding the very nature of global systems and types of governments.

Even though it has many resemblances with past reformist western movements, the Occupy WS is very peculiar. Almost for the first time since the enlightenment ages in Europe, a western movement seems very keen on importing models of action and struggle and seeking inspiration from the part of the world that was long considered “culturally inferior” and only worthy of pity and, namely Africa and especially the northern Arab part.

The Protesters, through their media, explicitly situate their struggle in a clear context of global events on the timeline starting form Tunisia (in my personal experience a country that is still unknown to most American) passing through Egypt and Libya. The usual claim of Godly superiority attributed for decades by various US politicians to the US seems to be irrelevant in the context of the O.W.S movement.

“Our” movement is a real “global citizens” movement:

One cannot deny that the movement is reaching magnificent momentum throughout the world. From Berlin to NYC passing by Rome, the slogans even though in different languages, have the same demands for a new order of social justice.

The Occupy movement also continues to enjoy increasing support and sympathy from the post-revolutionary countries of North Africa. The calls for the stop of police aggressions against those protesters in the US are louder and louder in my mother country Tunisia.

This might seem trivial to some but it is indeed revolutionary. I would have never thought that widespread popular and genuine sympathy to any western cause could ever be attained in an Arab predominantly Muslim (with strong Islamic political tendencies as the election results show about 40% voted for the Islamist party Nahdha) country. Since Iraq and Afghanistan, blind anti-American feelings, have never ceased to grow (I do not, in any case justify the wars led by the USA in the region) and it seemed to me inevitable that imminent conflict would arise. But the Occupy movement, even with poor Arabic content so far, has indeed occupied the Hearts of many in the Muslim world. This sympathy has expressed itself in the astonishing 20 000 comments on the Official Campaign Facebook page of Barak Obama by Tunisians condemning police brutality against the protesters of Occupy Wall street.

The French revolution is an example of nationalistic movements that bring about welfare and rights only to their racial and national affiliations. This is further proved if one was to consider that France, while enjoying democracy at home, still colonized many nations and reduced them to slavery and servitude, Tunisia is only an example of a victim of the cultural and imperialistic chauvinism of this occupying power. I bring this famous example as it is a famous and almost classical popular emancipation success story that has not led to any significant improvement in the consideration of France of its southern neighbors.

 Whether or not the OWS movement manages to keep alive and impose social justice reforms, these peculiarities bring me the ultimate conclusion that the protests revive the hope for a new world order and that the death of missionary claims will bring about the consideration for Human rights as a priority rather than nationalistic exclusive rights.

How a wide income gap squeezes happiness

  Even though economics is much about the study of ways of increasing welfare, studies of the effects of widening income gaps in the developing world are often watering down the negative effects claiming that the “trickle-down” effect is bound to happen at some point in the longer run (“when we are all dead” Keynes).

A much more subtle argument waiving income gap as a substantial threat to development, is that the bulk of people in most lower developed countries LDC have witnessed increasing incomes even though much of that wealth has accumulated in the hands of the few richest. In other words the situation of the entire groups concerned has improved in terms of income.

Nevertheless a more “obscure” negative effect is undermined by this dialectic: The effect of income gap widening on the collective happiness. It is obscure in the sense that it would be difficult to establish objective quantitative measures.

The Idea came to me at a pre-graduation party with my schoolmates in Italy. Almost all my Scandinavian friends were wearing the traditional graduate’s hat. One of them, from Denmark, told me jokingly that with this very hat he can do whatever he wants to do: work in a restaurant, travel or even study biochemistry.

But in that innocent joke lies the essence of a very fundamental economic difference between most developing and some developed countries: Income gap “width”. In fact the differences (or the genii coefficient for the matter) in wages between the highest and the lowest paying jobs in Denmark is actually negligible compared to that in my home country of Tunisia. According to the CIA’s GINI index table, published as part of the “world fact book”, Tunisia ranks 63 with a 40% gini index while Denmark only comes in rank 137 with a much lower income disparity represented by a 24.8% gini index.^[1]

And this fact has serious implications not only on the job market structure but on the entire perception of one’s life. My friend would have been just fine (income wise) if he had been a waiter. For him opportunity is not a rare and colossal chance but it is the norm. Thus my friend will go on a gap year: He will work for a few months and then go on to travel and meet friends and plainly just relax. That is not the case for only my friend, but generally for the whole generation of Scandinavians! And I hope the reader is not mistaken, the school he is about to graduate from is an International institution and yet his “ambitions”, even though greatly open and flexible, are “easy” and simple.

Now if we consider mine and my similar companions’ case. Almost all my friends from LDC will go on to study a “Hard” science or course in an American College. In this we are very lucky as the USA’s higher education’s system is rich and can accommodate many international students on very high scholarship coverage. This is the case for a very lucky (because the number of talented “poor” people will always be less than the number of “poor” people selected to study in a world class higher institutions) elite of LDC students, and still the difference in life prospects and style will differ: The constant “threat” of expulsion or simple removal of scholarship will push these students to perform as best as can be performed when it comes to academia matters. Upon completion of education there will be a haunting quest for a job in the country of study or the MDC in general. This quest will go beyond simple search for the best work conditions possible: For “us” it is also about family honor, about skipping some steps of the social ladder and at the base of it all for pure survival.

Consider now, the overwhelming majority of people in LDC: The majority that did not get lucky enough to study or rather escape to a MDC. In this arena, everybody still wants and strives to be doctors, engineers, ministers and most likely presidents (if they are lucky to be in politically developed LDC in the first place). Firstly that places enormous pressure on the weak higher educational institution. Secondly, all “technical” manual jobs related schools are viewed by society almost as a pre-jail school. I recall that a middle school, in my natal Tunisian city of Bizerte, is branded with the very degrading nickname of “Donkey school” (literally and in English). It is denoted so just because an entire generation ago it was home to a technical school. At the end of the educational very competitive process, economies that are largely based on primary and secondary sectors are not suitable to accommodate the influx of university graduates. From this emerges a very peculiar “structural underemployment”: There are too many wannabe doctors and presidents and there are only a few posts to fill. The Tunisian university graduate unemployment figures are one of the most daunting examples of this catastrophic turnout. Most likely most of the undesired graduates will end up doing the simple jobs anyway: this time around, they will be untrained and their existential satisfaction will be forever shattered.

What we have here is a far too large number of underemployed depression-prone somehow young but still wasted very central years in the alleles of corrupt universities: and that is a catastrophic turnout is. A wide income gap produces the carrot (well-paying jobs) and the stick (manual low paying labor). This is equally as disastrous in outcomes to the society as a whole. For the risk is placed on the existential wellbeing of the whole society. 

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[1] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html

فكرة: الشّجرة الإستراتيجيّة

تخيّل: أن تزرع كلّ جوانب الطّرقات بالأشجار المثمرة على أنواعها. ثمّ يتعهّد بسقايتها و العناية بها عموميّا (مثلا تسقى باستعمال شاحنة مخصّصة إلى أن يشتدّ عودها) و تترك ثمارها مشاعة نعمة للنّاس و الصّناعات التّحويليّة. 

ثمار شعبيّة و عموميّة و زاد إستراتيجيّ و إستقلال غذائيّ. 

فكرة.