Graduation Year
2021
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Politics and International Relations
Reader 1
Sumita Pahwa
Reader 2
Nancy Neiman
Abstract
Almost ten years since the onset of the Tunisian revolution, the country remains engulfed in a series of democratic reforms drawing pressure from transitional justice groups and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Amidst this pressure, economic inequality, one of the catalysts of the revolution, has worsened, creating an even greater disparity between the wealthy coastal area and the poor interior regions. Many Tunisians, particularly those from the interior region, are dismayed by the outcome of the revolution and the continual transfer of power and money between elites at the impoverished south's expense. Economic inequality was at the forefront of the interior region's revolution, with the slogan, "freedom, work, and dignity," illustrating their major complaints with elitist corruption. While the revolution did give Tunisians their freedom from the authoritarian regime, the region faces high unemployment and inequitable access to resources, signaling that while freedom has come, work and dignity lag behind. Almost a decade later, these same issues continue to dominate the forefront of the interior region's complaints.
Recommended Citation
Silberhorn, Elise, ""Pull Yourself Up by the Bootstraps" A Neoliberal Guide to Democracy: How Western Banking Institutions Prevent Economic Equality in Tunisia" (2021). Scripps Senior Theses. 1714.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1714
