Aim: The aim of this master thesis was to explore contexts of initiation of substance use and to describe the social, physical and mental health situation of women injecting drug users (WIDU) in Tunisia. Relevance: In North Africa, people who inject drugs are an important risk group in the HIV epidemic. There is evidence that WIDU are even more vulnerable. However, in Arabic Muslim societies, rehabilitation, treatment for this subpopulation and research on this issue are scarce. Method: A qualitative study was conducted. Six in-depth interviews with WIDU in Tunis were recorded, transcribed and inductivelyanalyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Four themes were identified. The first theme describes situation of women before dependence. Women were brought up within patriarchal cultural norms where they were victimized. The second theme is related to the circumstances of initiation of drug use characterized by the wish for escape and pursue of pleasures. The third theme describes the dependence, withdrawal and consequences on everyday life. Final and fourth theme is related to the way out of addiction. Conclusion and recommendations: The socio-ecological model and the gender relational theory helped to interpret the findings.WIDU in Tunisia suffer from marginalization and from social and health inequalities due to their gender and to their dependence. This puts them at a higher risk of violence, abuse, health hazards and blood-borne and HIV infections. Thus, awareness and policies should be designed in order to alleviate the stigma and bring services closer to this subpopulation.

Thesis advisor: ALI BANUAZIZI / How can one think of the possibility of emergence of democracy in non-Western countries? Such an idea had been approached in pessimism for a long time in academia. This is because the conditions deemed indispensable for democratic development (such as high rates of urbanization and literacy) rarely existed in those countries. Thus, the concept “Western democracy” was considered an oxymoron, since, according to earlier scholars of democracy, only Western polities could meet the conditions/prerequisites for the genesis of democracy. Nevertheless, this long-held prophecy was challenged as non-Western countries demonstrated significant progress towards establishing a democratic rule, despite having “so-called” unfavorable conditions (such as religion or poor economic performance) to democratic development. Despite this global resurgence of democratic governance, the countries in the Middle East and North Africa were never able to develop a democratic rule, a situation that has long been explained by pointing at the “exceptional” characteristics (primarily Islam) inherent in the region. Yet, the events that began on December 17, 2010 in Tunisia opened up the possibility for the countries that had been long-ruled by autocrats to embark on a democratic transition. The uprisings that eventually unseated longtime authoritarian rulers (only occurred in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya) enabled divergent socio-political forces to become involved in transitional processes in the aftermath of regime breakdowns. However, only the first two cases had meaningful steps that were taken towards sustaining the transition. This research has been built on the argument that four key factors have played important roles in transitional processes of these two cases, namely Tunisia (the transition to a democratic governance) and Egypt (the restoration of a new form of authoritarianism): the formation of the state, pact-making compromises among revolutionary actors, moderation of religious parties, and civil society activism. In addition to explaining the divergence in these two countries’ transitional processes, this research has been written in response to the prolonged pessimism that the regimes in the region are destined to stay non-democratic. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2017. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Middle Eastern Studies.

Thesis (M.A.)--California State University, Long Beach, 2007. / Photocopy of typescript. Abstract preceding title page. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-159).

By looking at the hijab in context in the political, social, and domestic spheres of Tunisia, one gains a clearer understanding of the hijab’s complexity and a clearer understanding of each of those spheres. Politically, the condemnation of the hijab reveals the tension between the dominant, secular party and the Islamist movement, and the political oppression still prevalent in Tunisia. Socially, the wearing of the hijab reveals the tension between Orientalist perceptions of the hijab and the desire of Muslim feminists to create an authentically Islamic meaning of the hijab compatible with feminist ideas. Domestically, the hijab reveals the tension that remains between localized structures of patriarchy and individual women’s pursuit of liberation beyond emancipation and secularization. Despite the reforms established in the Personal Status Code and the secularization campaign by the government, they are not enough to completely alter negative domestic perceptions of women.

This thesis focuses on the region's tribes and the changes in their political economy brought about by the Imposition of the colonial state and the penetration of capitalism, the tribesmen are not seen as pawns in a structural transformation but as active participants in the development of their own society. During the Protectorate period a dual economy emerged, differentials of wealth Increased, and many tribesmen were reduced to the position of insecure wage labourers. These processes had their roots in the pre-Protectorate economy but were precipitated by droughts, a growing population, the region's deteriorating terms and balance of trade, colonisation, the state's dismemberment of collective land and its exploitation of the tribal economy through taxation. Despite the state's increasing Intervention and control of tribal affairs the tribesmen continued to regard the state as an alien institution and were slow to participate in the new politics of Nationalism. Similarly, although growing differentials of wealth within the tribes strengthened the tribal political elite it did not allow them to escape from the factional politics of the Pre-Protectorate period. The state prevented its administrators emerging as a class Independent from the tribe by electing them from within their community and by refusing to give them unequivocal support. The colonial state and capitalism did not reconstruct the tribes' political economy according to a European model but interacted reflexively with existing and local structures to create a unique political economy that can only be understood through a detailed regional study.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Technology Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2002. / Thesis advisor(s): Thomas Housel, John Osmundson. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-65). Also available online.

Even though abortion is legal, the implementation of access to safe abortion is extremely complex and depends on the socio-economic and political context. In Tunisia, abortion has been legal for 50 years, yet the country still struggles with implementing safe abortion into health care services. The main aim of this thesis is to examine what problems to abortion access women face in Tunisia. This is done through a qualitative content analysis of five Tunisian NGOs, focusing on what they present as the problems, but also what they present as the reasons and the solution to these issues. Using political culture and the conceptualisation of abortion stigma as theoretical framework, this study explores whether attitudes toward abortion in society is congruent with the liberal abortion law and policies, as a way of understanding how women can have problems accessing abortion. The findings are that according to NGOs, women have trouble getting abortions due to economical, organisational, ideological, and political reasons: The emergence of conservative forces, consequences of economic struggles, the lack of information, discrimination from health providers, and lack of attention from the state make abortion services in the public sector increasingly difficult to obtain. More than previous research, the NGOs touched upon intersectional vulnerability as a reason for increased difficulties for women and an issue that needed to be resolved. These results open up for future research on the viewpoint of NGOs, as well as the ‘access paradox’ of abortion implementation.

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The main thesis of this study is that Islam played a role in the history of the Tunisian nationalist movement on two levels. It was considered as a fundamental component in defining the specificity of the Tunisian nation, source of legitimacy of the Tunisian nationalist movement both before and after independence. Moreover, as a fundamental component of the Tunisian "personality", it influenced the mode of communication used by nationalist leaders to mobilize the masses. / The biographical approach served to focus the issue through the prism of Habib Bourguiba's life. It revealed that even this most secular of Arab leaders could not shed the Arab-Islamic heritage of Tunisia precisely because Islam, as a fundamental component of the Tunisian "personality" and as the language of the masses, held the key to political legitimacy.

No description available.