nabil laoudji

poetry, prose, design thinking & entrepreneurship

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The “Occupy” Movement: Insights from Tunisia

November 18, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

Like many Tunisians I’ve watched with amazement as the poignant act of Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor who set himself on fire in protest against unemployment and corruption, lit a flame that devoured the Tunisian dictatorship and spread through Egypt, Libya, Spain, Chile and beyond. And like many Americans I’ve watched with intrigue as this energy appears to have arrived on America’s shores, springing up in cities across the country as the 99% or “Occupy” movement. So what, if anything, do all of these movements have in common? And what, if anything, can America learn from the movements that preceded ours?

This summer I spent a few months in Tunisia to better understand its revolution. A few weeks ago I had a chance to sit with Occupy protestors in Boston’s Dewey Square. And as I hold these two movements in my mind the similarities are striking. They are both driven by a shared feeling of injustice rather than one specific ideology or goal. They both lack a figurehead and actively reject them. They both speak out against a small group they believe are hoarding economic gains. They both despair at the lack of career prospects, especially for educated college graduates. And they both demonstrate impressive ad-hoc organization, facilitated by social networking tools.

While the movement in America is just taking off, Tunisia’s is eleven months old. And so as America grapples with this new phenomenon, how did things go in Tunisia? On the one hand there were surprising benefits. In Tunisia the revolution restored a sense of national pride: today Tunisians feel a sense of ownership over their country, proudly displaying the national flag, singing the country’s anthem, and launching civil society organizations to address social issues. In Tunisia the revolution helped to recalibrate social values: a security vacuum and a garbage collectors strike gave Tunisians a renewed sense of appreciation for policemen and sanitation workers, despised and ignored, respectively, by society.

But Tunisia’s revolution also came with unexpected challenges. The judgment that fueled the revolution also worked to undermine it: in Sidi Bouzid, the birthplace of its movement, the very people who rose up against an authoritarian dictatorship months later prevented certain political parties from campaigning in their city. Removing the country’s leadership did not remove its imprint on society: through years of conspicuous consumption and thuggery the deposed regime modeled behaviors which have influenced norms around achievement and leadership.

While there are many commonalities between America’s movement and Tunisia’s, it’s also true that the factors that motivate each one are ingrained in the unique histories and circumstances of each country. From the suburban Boston baby boomer I met who keeps pushing back her retirement because her savings can’t sustain her, to the South Carolina-raised student whose single-parent mother sacrificed for him to get his Master’s degree only for him to be unemployed, America’s movement is very much its own. The path it takes will certainly be different. And, as America’s movement matures and takes shape, it will be interesting to see how Tunisia’s experience, and those of the countries that followed, can serve as a source of insight and learning.

// As published on the Presencing Institute.

Filed Under: Prose Tagged With: arab spring, occupy, tunisia

Tunisia’s Road to Democracy

October 23, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

As Tunisia celebrates a historic democratic election, its emerging political parties have learned that overcoming decades of authoritarian rule requires starting small, and slowly building trust. This summer we followed one of Tunisia’s emerging political parties – Afek Tounes – as it journeyed into the city that sparked the Arab Spring, and learned this lesson first-hand. Created in collaboration with Jonathan Schienberg and Rabiî Kalboussi.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: afek tounes, democracy, elections, sidi bouzid, tunisia

TunisiaLive: “Snapshots of the Tunisian Revolution”

August 26, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

This summer I, like many Tunisians living abroad, returned home to experience the revolution for which our fellow Tunisians fought eight months ago. In my time as a journalist, a citizen, and a tourist, here is what I observed:

Tunisians are reconnecting
The former regime forced many Tunisians into permanent exile. Today Tunisia’s cities and towns are teeming with wide-eyed returnees, many of whom haven’t seen their families (or stepped foot in their country) in a generation. Tunisians who never left the country are also reconnecting. Earlier this year residents from Tunis assembled a caravan and traveled to meet residents of historically ignored cities such as Sidi Bouzid to personally thank them for starting the revolution. Whereas previously Tunisian journalists were fearful of straying from their beat, today they travel throughout the country to speak with and publish stories on locals.

Tunisians are uncovering their divisions
With a 98% Sunni Muslim population and a large middle class, Tunisia is often described as one of the most homogeneous Arab countries. Yet with new freedoms of expression and organization Tunisians are discovering deep-seated differences. Secular Tunisians are discovering a large swath of the population that is devoutly religious. Tunisians from the country’s affluent coastal region are discovering an interior country that feels exploited and disenfranchised.

Islam is flourishing
Much like Communists were hostile to Catholicism in Poland, so was the former regime hostile to Islam in Tunisia. Men with beards were harassed, mosques were forced to closed early, Imams were monitored. Today Tunisian Muslims are embracing their faith; mosques stay open late into the evening; men grow out their beards; Imams speak freely without fear of persecution. Many more women also choose to wear the veil.

Civil society is stirring to life
As one volunteer put it, “under the previous regime the government wanted to be the master of all good and evil.” Tunisians who wanted to start civil society organizations were often prevented from doing so. As a result, today there are few organizations to mentor at-risk youth, protect the environment, or get out the vote. Public commons are abused: trash is mindlessly thrown onto the street. In some promising first displays of civic engagement, however, immediately after the former president fled, Tunisians organized to protect and clean up their neighborhoods. Today Tunisians who have registered to vote proudly affix stickers to their cars affirming that they’ve done so.

Young Tunisians are driven to inaction
For many young middle and upper-class Tunisians, working menial jobs for pocket money (e.g. waiting tables) is considered shameful. Furthermore under the previous regime those who launched new companies or organizations ran up against a system which either punished them for competing, or forced itself into a joint partnership. With high paying jobs a scarcity, what has resulted is a generation of anxious young men and women stuck between a bad job market and the fear of entrepreneurship. Cafes are packed with young Tunisians dreaming only of moving abroad. Today a few initiatives are trying to change this: Barcamp, TEDx Carthage, and the Arab Business Plan Competition are working to provide the networks, inspiration, and resources to rekindle the Tunisian imagination and enable Tunisians to invest their creativity and energy at home.

Tunisia is trading France for new partners
With its colonial past France has always been Tunisia’s primary ally, yet it was American companies such as Facebook and Twitter that helped Tunisians to capture and exchange images during the revolution, and Qatari-based Al Jazeera that beamed these images to TV audiences across the world. Today both countries are intimately involved in Tunisia’s new society: the US is spearheading support for Tunisia’s economic development (Former Presidential candidate John McCain is personally involved in encouraging US foreign direct investment); Qatar is rumored to be funding one of Tunisia’s most successful emerging political parties. France, on the other hand, is trying to save face after offering its security expertise to the ex-President while his regime was cracking down on protestors.

The regime is gone in body, but not in spirit
While former President Ben Ali and his family are no longer in power, his legacy of corruption and intimidation remains. As one Tunisian activist put it, “behind Ben Ali is a system in which half of the country was complicit. This mentality is deeply rooted in the Tunisian psyche and will take decades to change.” When looking at Tunisia’s revolution, it’s difficult to judge whether Tunisians were protesting against the Ben Ali regime’s system, or the personalities who dominated it. If the latter, Tunisia’s revolution remains susceptible to the rise of another strongman.

As I reflect on my summer in Tunisia I feel both worried and optimistic for Tunisia’s future. It’s unclear whether Tunisians have a shared vision for a society that does away with the system that gave us the former regime. That being said, with a rich history of strong institutions and an unexpected display of unity and courage in the face of a brutal regime, I wouldn’t count against Tunisia surprising the world once more.

// As published on Tunisia Live.

Filed Under: Prose Tagged With: arab spring, awakening, civil society, divisions, islam, regime, revolution, society, tunisia, youth

Tunisia’s Emerging Information Society

August 15, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

From streetsweepers to rappers to activist bloggers my TunisiaLive colleague Asma Ghribi and I hit the streets of Tunis to get peoples’ perspectives on Tunisia’s new information freedoms.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: censorshop, expression, media, revolution, rights, tunisia

Neyssatou

July 3, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

she channels the earth
her skin petrified wood
born into a marbled texture of sound and dust
her hair the parched twine of a tumbleweed
spread across the floor, picked up and reassembled
like a wispy broom lying in front of a clay Berber house

and as her song comes forth she channels the spirits of old desert women
teeth clenched against the bitter residue of a headscarf
taut against a wide solid head
her back twisted, aching
spinal vertebrae atrophying
in a sudden sclerosis of history

the nameless women who have walked the streets of
Tamerza, Tozeur, Medenine
dipped in music, encased in light
and placed on an airy mantle in Carthage

A (poetry) review of Neyssatou‘s performance at Creative Commons’ “Sharing The Spring” concert in Carthage Tunisia.

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: carthage, desert, music, neyssatou, tunisia

A CEO In The Medina

June 27, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

On Friday a delegation of American executives, led by General Electric CEO Jeffrey Immelt, traveled to Tunisia to explore investment opportunities. What’s driving this high profile interest in Tunisia by powerful American executives? I attended the delegation’s press conference at the US Embassy in Tunis to find out, and created the following podcast for TunisiaLive. To listen, click the icon below:

Filed Under: Audio Tagged With: arab spring, business, ceo, tunisia

An Inside Look Into Ben Ali’s Trial

June 23, 2011 by Nabil Leave a Comment

On Monday I joined the TunisiaLive team for an inside look at the trial of deposed Tunisian President Ben Ali, whose 23-year authoritarian rule came to an end on January 14. As both a correspondent and as a Tunisian citizen I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to tell a story about this remarkable day.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: arab spring, Ben Ali, Trial, tunisia

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