Securitization of the unemployed and counter-conductive resistance in Tunisia

Abstract

<jats:p> While resistance has been increasingly studied in critical security studies, its role has been mainly understood as either a deconstructive or a reconstructive force in processes of securitization owing to the perceived externality of resistance to domination. By contributing to the governmentality approach to security with Foucault’s concept of counter-conduct, this article aims to explicate a particular mode of resistance in which the securitized subject resists, not by refusing the status of being securitized, but by counter-securitizing the self. In doing so, the article shows how dominating and resisting actors mutually construct a particular issue as security. The utility of the concept of counter-conduct is empirically examined via the case of Tunisia, where the unemployed have been securitized in the context of counter-terrorism since the 2011 uprising. By analysing the narratives of the ruling elites and unemployed protesters collected from local news, Facebook posts and semi-structured interviews conducted by the author between 2016 and 2017, the article illustrates how protesters actively participated in the securitization of the unemployed in order that they might be able to continue their socio-economic struggle and position their right to work as the most efficient way of fighting terrorism. </jats:p>

Mobilizing within and beyond the Labor Union: A Case of Precarious Workers’ Collective Actions in North Africa

“…Indeed, the October deal intensified, rather than mitigated, site workers' collective actions across the country. The first mass protest at the national level to criticize the deal took place in front of the Tunisian Parliament building and then the UGTT headquarters on December 9, 2020, under the banner of A Day of Rage (Han 2020). The workers, who were younger than 45 years old and included in the list of beneficiaries, were quick to express their support and solidarity for their fellow workers who were excluded from the list.…”

“…The agreement also promised to provide those older than age 45 with 20,000 dinars as a form of retirement pay by March 2021 as well as continued social benefits including health coverage. The former prime minister, Hichem Mechichi, hailed the agreement, noting that ''achieving this agreement for a large section of site workers after years of working in precarious conditions meets the commitments of the government, breaking with the practice of precarious work'' (Han 2020).…”

“…Whereas the majority of workers who were hired before 2010 worked in the agricultural sector, by the year 2014, the number of administrative site workers became nearly twice the number of agricultural site workers. Approximately 67% of administrative workers were formerly unemployed people living in the interior and border areas (FTDES 2015: 11), particularly those in Sidi Bouzid and Kasserine where local mobilizations were often framed by the state as a security concern (Han 2021).…”

Insecurity, deportability and authority

“…The articles of this special issue all question the extent to which change is possible – and, if so, how it might be achieved. Specifically, the contributions relate to the concepts increasingly studied in security studies: resistance and resilience (Châteauvert-Gagnon, 2022; Han, 2021; Jaspars, 2021; Krüger and Albris, 2021; McIntosh, 2022). Numerous scholars consider resistance to be the direct opposite of resilience, arguing strongly in favour of resisting what is seen as wrong or detrimental policies rather than engaging them with resilience.…”

Transitional justice for whom? Contention over human rights and justice in Tunisia

“…This was particularly the case with the revolutionary subjectivity promoted by unemployed protesters. While the right to work was often mentioned by the state and politicians, this right was predominantly rendered to be guaranteed not through transitional justice mechanisms or radical changes in the assumptions and calculations underlying the previous economic system but through good governance and economic development driven by marketization (Han, 2021). For instance, while Tunisia's 2016-2020 Development Plan mentions the right to work as a fundamental right in principle, the problem of unemployment is almost always articulated as a matter that is to be solved through a market-oriented approach to youth education and foreign direct investments (Ministry of Development, Investment and International Cooperation, 2015).…”