The prolonged absence or ambivalent presence of the state, pressure from the collapse of Libya, and the illicit trafficking of goods and people combine to make Tunisian southern cross-border areas highly sensitive hubs of permanent instability, whose unpredictably reverberate both nationally and regionally. Given that a shared narrative of exclusion, marginalization, and humiliation has successfully mobilized people against central authority –which preferred to police and securitize these territories and communities rather than administer them –there is an urgent need for a comprehensive strategy of restoring state legitimacy to address both material claims and the feeling of state abandonment. Such a strategy would help tackle the factors that generate cross-border insecurity in the longer term. In particular, newly elected municipal councils should enact new behaviors and styles of governance to foster rapprochement between citizens and public institutions; civil society organizations should constructively work to maintain a fruitful and trustful relationship between the citizenry and its elected representatives; and central state authorities should be more responsive to local needs.

Bridging the gap between Tunisian central state and cross-border regions: inclusive strategies to cope with marginalization

Giulia Cimini
2018

Abstract

The prolonged absence or ambivalent presence of the state, pressure from the collapse of Libya, and the illicit trafficking of goods and people combine to make Tunisian southern cross-border areas highly sensitive hubs of permanent instability, whose unpredictably reverberate both nationally and regionally. Given that a shared narrative of exclusion, marginalization, and humiliation has successfully mobilized people against central authority –which preferred to police and securitize these territories and communities rather than administer them –there is an urgent need for a comprehensive strategy of restoring state legitimacy to address both material claims and the feeling of state abandonment. Such a strategy would help tackle the factors that generate cross-border insecurity in the longer term. In particular, newly elected municipal councils should enact new behaviors and styles of governance to foster rapprochement between citizens and public institutions; civil society organizations should constructively work to maintain a fruitful and trustful relationship between the citizenry and its elected representatives; and central state authorities should be more responsive to local needs.
2018
Tunisia’s Fragile Democracy: Decentralization, Institution Building and the Development of Marginalized Regions – Perspectives from the Region and Europe
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Giulia Cimini
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/736533
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