Salafis’ Hybrid Trajectories of SocioPolitical Engagement in Post-2013 Tunisia. Elements for a Comparative Analysis with Algeria

This contribution shows how Salafi groups’ adaptive strategies go beyond the crystallized categorizations – quietist, political, and Jihadi – outlined in the literature. Based on data obtained from fieldwork visits in Tunisia from 2015 to 2019, this chapter highlights two Salafis’ trajectories of engagement as the byproduct of adaptive strategies in a perceived constraining environment. It also shows how Salafis’ new forms of commitments go hand in hand with a dynamic of hybridization with populist rhetoric and modes of action, as well as with other transversal ideologies. According to the definition given by Mudde, populism is based on an idea of society which is separated in two antagonistic groups: the pure people vs. the corrupt elite. Thus, the definition of ‘people’ given by Mudde emphasizes an ideal community of moral integrity, which is compatible with the ideologically constructed community of Salafi believers.