The Historical Formation of the Political Field

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the historical formation of the Tunisian political field with an emphasis on pre-revolutionary gender politics. It lays the foundation for the subsequent examination of the its legacy on Tunisian gender politics today and also for assessing and drawing conclusions about how gender politics changed in the course of the transitional process. It outlines the historical evolution of gender politics from Tunisia’s independence from French colonial rule in 1957 through the revolution in 2010/2011, with a focus on the most important actors in Tunisian gender politics and their visions of gender relations as well as modes of operation under authoritarian rule.