The Jasmine Revolution
February 3, 2011
Fortes Room (room 409)
Tunisia’s “Jasmine Revolution” recently captured the world’s attention with its successful and peaceful overthrow of the country’s dictatorial President. Library Director Hedi BenAicha, a native of Tunisia, gave a lecture about the history of Tunisia and the recent revolution, on February 3, 2011 in the Fortes Room. Students, faculty, and administrators were in attendance to hear Hedi describe Tunisia’s recent political history and the events that led to the revolution.
As Hedi explained, Tunisia has been a more modern-thinking country than its North African neighbors because its colonial rule by France from the late 19th through mid-20th century left the country feeling more closely related to Europe than Africa.
He described some of the factors that led people of Tunisia into action, including the corruption and nepotism of the ruling family, high prices for food and other necessities, and the lack of jobs for the educated populace. Hedi explained that Tunisia has a very high rate of literacy, around 80 percent, and noted that it is difficult for a government to maintain autocratic control over educated people. When the government attempted to control the protests by shutting down access to news media, the people turned to social media such as Facebook and Twitter to keep the citizens of Tunisia and the rest of the world aware of what was going on.
Hedi also noted that the other nearby countries are following Tunisia’s example and beginning to create their own nonviolent revolutions, and he expressed hope that this part of the world will have more democracy in the future. A lively question and answer period followed his remarks.
*Note: This article, by Debra Thomson, was published as part of Adams Library's Spring 2011 newsletter, viewable here:
Hedi BenAicha was the Director of James P. Adams Library and a scholar of Near Eastern and North African history, having completed his doctoral studies in history at SUNY Stony Brook in New York. His focus is on Islamic history as well as the interplay between politics and identity in modern postcolonial Tunisia.