Socioeconomic Protests and Political Transformation: Dynamics of Contentious Politics in Egypt and Tunisia Against the Background of South American Experiences
Socioeconomic grievances were among the major forces driving the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia. Since the ousting of the dictators, however, political debates have focused on political institutions, questions of identity and civil-military relations even though both countries continue to contend with socioeconomic protests. This project analyzed the neglected socioeconomic dimension of the ongoing transformation process in Egypt and Tunisia. It studied the dynamics of contentious politics, i.e., the interaction of protest groups and political actors, in this issue area. A focused analysis of South American countries and their diverse experiences in dealing with political change and socioeconomic contention has served to inform and orient the in-depth analysis of the Arab cases.
Building on comparative research on political transformation processes and the theoretical framework of contentious politics developed by Charles Tilly, Sidney Tarrow and colleagues, the research team consisting of Middle East and Latin American experts from Egypt, Germany and Tunisia analyzed to what extent and how socioeconomic contention shapes the ongoing process of political transformation in Egypt and Tunisia.
In order to answer this research question, the project has:
- empirically assessed socioeconomic protests since the fall of Ben Ali and Mubarak, including the issues being contested and the actors involved;
- analyzed political reactions to socioeconomic contention, including the ways in which regimes deal with contentious actors and modify their economic policies;
- studied the resulting dynamics of contentious politics – i.e., the patterns of interaction between the state and contentious actors;
- identified the effects of socioeconomic contention on the overall process of political transformation, focusing specifically on the implications for political participation and institutional representation as well as on effects in terms of political responsiveness and social justice.
In each step of the research process the project has systematized South American experiences (based on secondary literature), conducted in-depth studies on the contemporary situation in Egypt and Tunisia (based on original research), compared the two Arab cases, and has drawn general conclusions from the inter-regional comparison. Finally, the project also identified future scenarios for Egypt and Tunisia and developed policy recommendations regarding not only social and political actors in the two countries but also external actors, and presented in detail how they could contribute to building an inclusive and peaceful order in Egypt and Tunisia.
The project (2014-2018) was conducted in cooperation with Dr. Amr El Shobaki, Dr. Nadine Abdalla and Nayera Abdel Rahman of the Arab Forum for Alternatives in Egypt and Dr. Amor Boubakri, Dr. Bassem Karray and Samiha Hamdi of Sfax University in Tunisia and was funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. The results of the project have been published in the edited volume „Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America. Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison" with Palgrave Macmillan.
As a follow-up project, the Volkswagen Foundation is funding Struggles over Socioeconomic Reforms: Political Conflict and Social Contention in Egypt and Tunisia post 2011 in Interregional Comparison for three years (2018–2021).
- Vatthauer, Jan-Philipp
- Amérique latine: qu’ont obtenu les mobilisations populaires? | 2021
Wolff, Jonas (2021): Amérique latine: qu’ont obtenu les mobilisations populaires?, in: Alternatives Economiques, Hors-Série, 122, 44–45, www.alternatives-economiques.fr/(...).
- Show details
- One year later: The legacy of Latin America’s 2019 mass protests | 2020
Wolff, Jonas (2020): One year later: The legacy of Latin America’s 2019 mass protests, PRIF Blog, 17.12.2020.
- Show details
- What Do We Know about Struggles over Neoliberal Reforms? | 2020
Wolff, Jonas (2020): What Do We Know about Struggles over Neoliberal Reforms? The Political Economy and the Contentious Politics of Stabilization and Structural Adjustment in Latin America and beyond, PRIF Working Papers No. 51, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- Unemployed mobilisation in times of Democratisation | 2020
Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2020): Unemployed mobilisation in times of Democratisation. The Union of Unemployed Graduates in post-Ben Ali Tunisia, in: The Journal of North African Studies, 25:1, 53-75, DOI: 10.1080/13629387.2018.1535317.
- Show details
- Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America | 2020
Weipert-Fenner, Irene / Wolff, Jonas (eds), (2020): Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America. Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-19621-9.
- Show details
- Socioeconomic Protests in Times of Political Change—Studying Egypt and Tunisia from a Comparative Perspective | 2020
Weipert-Fenner, Irene / Wolff, Jonas (2020): Socioeconomic Protests in Times of Political Change—Studying Egypt and Tunisia from a Comparative Perspective. Introduction, in: Weipert-Fenner, Irene/Wolff, Jonas (eds), Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America. Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 1-40.
- Show details
- From North Africa to Latin America and Back | 2020
Weipert-Fenner, Irene / Wolff, Jonas (2020): From North Africa to Latin America and Back. Comparative Findings and Theoretical Reflections, in: Weipert-Fenner, Irene/Wolff, Jonas (eds), Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America. Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 251-274.
- Show details
- Unemployed Protests in Tunisia | 2020
Hamdi, Samiha / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2020): Unemployed Protests in Tunisia. Between Grassroots Activism and Formal Organization, in: Weipert-Fenner, Irene/Wolff, Jonas (eds), Socioeconomic Protests in MENA and Latin America. Egypt and Tunisia in Interregional Comparison, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 195-219.
- Show details
- Blurred Lines of Inclusion and Exclusion. Research Ethics for Political Sympathizers | 2018
Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2018): Blurred Lines of Inclusion and Exclusion. Research Ethics for Political Sympathizers, in: Clark, Janine A./Cavatorta, Francesco (eds), Political Science Research in the Middle East and North Africa: Methodological and Ethical Challenges, (Vol. Oxford University Press), Oxford, New York, 233-241.
- Show details
- Clientelism and Patronage in the Middle East and North Africa. Networks of Dependency | 2018
Ruiz de Elvira, Laura / Schwarz, Christoph H. / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (eds), (2018): Clientelism and Patronage in the Middle East and North Africa. Networks of Dependency, Abington, UK and New York, NY: Routledge, https://www.routledge.com/(...).
- Show details
- Introduction: Networks of Dependency, a Research Perspective | 2018
Ruiz de Elvira, Laura / Schwarz, Christoph H. / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2018): Introduction: Networks of Dependency, a Research Perspective, Clientelism and Patronage in the Middle East and North Africa. Networks of Dependency, Abington, UK and New York, NY: Routledge, https://www.routledge.com/(...).
- Show details
- Mobilization of the Marginalized: Unemployment Activism in Tunisia | 2017
Hamdi, Samiha / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2017): Mobilization of the Marginalized: Unemployment Activism in Tunisia, American University of Beirut: Isaam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs, Working Paper 43, http://website.aub.edu.lb/(...).
- Show details
- Stabilisierung durch Freihandel? | 2017
Schröder, Jonas / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2017): Stabilisierung durch Freihandel? Die Europäische Nachbarschaftspolitik und ihre Folgen für den sozialen Frieden in Tunesien, PRIF Spotlight 3/2017, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- Tunisia’s struggle against corruption: time to fight, not forgive | 2017
Salehi, Mariam / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2017): Tunisia’s struggle against corruption: time to fight, not forgive, openDemocracy, 16.5.2017.
- Show details
- The Quest for Social Justice in Tunisia. Socioeconomic protest and political democratization post 2011 | 2017
Vatthauer, Jan-Philipp / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2017): The Quest for Social Justice in Tunisia. Socioeconomic protest and political democratization post 2011, PRIF Report No. 143, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- Die soziale Frage in Tunesien | 2017
Vatthauer, Jan-Philipp / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2017): Die soziale Frage in Tunesien. Sozioökonomische Proteste und politische Demokratisierung nach 2011, HSFK-Report Nr. 3/2017, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- Egyptian parliamentary elections and the political path, AFA Papers Alternatives | 2017
Arab Forum for Alternatives (2017): Egyptian parliamentary elections and the political path, AFA Papers Alternatives, (Arabic Version on the AFA Website).
- Download publication // Show details
- Repertoires of Counter-Contention. | 2016
Weipert-Fenner, Irene / Wolff, Jonas (2016): Repertoires of Counter-Contention. Conceptualizing institutional responses to social movements, Bretterblog, 26.10.2016.
- Show details
- Unemployed Movements in the Global South | 2016
Weipert-Fenner, Irene / Wolff, Jonas (2016): Unemployed Movements in the Global South. The cases of Argentina and Tunisia, PRIF Working Papers No. 32, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- From Driver of Change to Marginalized Actor: Egypt’s New Unionism from a Comparative Perspective | 2016
Abdalla, Nadine / Wolff, Jonas (2016): From Driver of Change to Marginalized Actor: Egypt’s New Unionism from a Comparative Perspective, PRIF Working Papers No. 31, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- Socioeconomic contention and post-revolutionary political change in Egypt and Tunisia | 2015
Weipert-Fenner, Irene / Wolff, Jonas (2015): Socioeconomic contention and post-revolutionary political change in Egypt and Tunisia. A research agenda, PRIF Working Papers No. 24, Frankfurt/M.
- Download publication // Show details
- Making the Crisis Visible | 2015
Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2015): Making the Crisis Visible. A Reassessment of the Parliament in the Mubarak Regime, in: Sadiki, Larbi (ed.), Routledge Handbook of the Arab Spring. Rethinking Democratization, London/New York, 215-227.
- Show details
- Die offene soziale Frage und der politische Transformationsprozess in Ägypten | 2014
Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2014): Die offene soziale Frage und der politische Transformationsprozess in Ägypten, in: Tamer, George/Röbbelen, Hanna/Lintl, Peter (Hg.), Arabischer Aufbruch. Interdisziplinäre Studien zur Einordnung eines zeitgeschichtlichen Phänomens, Baden-Baden: Nomos, 263-292.
- Show details
- Conflict Mediation in the Middle East | 2014
Johannsen, Margret / Weidlich, Christian / Eikenberg, Felix / Finaud, Marc / Galal, Mohamed Noman / Hückmann, Jan / Kurz, Anat / Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2014): Conflict Mediation in the Middle East. Lessons from Egypt as a Mediator and Object of Mediation, in: Policy Brief for the Middle East Conference on a WMD/DV Free Zone No. 36, http://academicpeaceorchestra.com/download.php?downloadid=90.
- Show details
- Der autoritäre Sicherheitsapparat und der Kampf gegen den "islamistischen Terror" | 2014
Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2014): Der autoritäre Sicherheitsapparat und der Kampf gegen den "islamistischen Terror". Politische Gewalt in Ägypten seit 2011, in: Werkner, Ines-Jacqueline/Kursawe, Janet/Johannsen, Margret/Schoch, Bruno/von Boemcken, Marc (Hg.), Friedensgutachten 2014, Münster: LIT, 169-179, https://www.friedensgutachten.de/archiv.
- Show details
- Neue Akteure, neue Prozesse - alles beim Alten? | 2014
Weipert-Fenner, Irene (2014): Neue Akteure, neue Prozesse - alles beim Alten? Über den schwierigen Umgang mit der Ambivalenz der arabischen Transformationsprozesse, in: Politische Vierteljahresschrift, 55:1, 145-167.
- Show details
Partners
www.leibniz-gemeinschaft.de/en/research/leibniz-research-alliances/crises-in-a-globalised-world/