Between individual thinkers and women’s associations: an overview of the “female issue” during the first half of the French protectorate in Tunisia

Abstract

In Tunisia, the role of pioneer of the feminist movement has often been granted to scholar Tahar al-Haddad, who wrote a very controversial book on women’s emancipation. However, he was not the first person to contribute to the “female issue”, as it came to be known. Other intellectuals had already been paving the way for reform and there were certain women’s associations working towards inclusion. In this paper, we will present an overview of the contribution that both individual thinkers and women’s associations made to the emancipation of women during the first half of the French protectorate in Tunisia.