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An Islamist ‘renaissance’? Religion and politics in post-revolutionary Tunisia

The ascent to power of Tunisia's Islamist Ennahda party following the 2011 elections came as a surprise for observers who had praised Tunisia for its modernist legacy, as propagated by the former autocratic regimes of Bourguiba and Ben Ali. This article re-evaluates the role of Tunisia's Islamists under the former regimes, as well as the latters' strategy for controlling Tunisia's most important political opposition. Making use of new primary and secondary material, the author argues that the Islamist movements, which, since the late 1980s, also include the ultra-conservative Salafists, have always played an important part in Tunisian society. Although in post-revolution Tunisia the Salafist movement has, in particular, gained international attention, Tunisia's Salafists continue to form a highly heterogeneous movement, which prevents them from regrouping socially and politically as a single force to constitute an alternative to Ennahda.