Understanding the transformation of Political Islam beyond party politics: the case of Tunisia

Abstract

This article accounts for the hybrid transformations of the Tunisian Islamist movement. While most of the literature affirms the end of Political Islam in Tunisia through evidence of the Ennahda’s compromise with secular forces and the decision to keep politics separate from religion, this contribution offers a new perspective by shifting the unit of analysis from the political party to civil society actors. Findings show that, due to new opportunities and constraints that characterise the transition process, Islamist activists engaged in the associations have embarked on various trajectories that transform their relationship with the political party, and more generally with politics. This article examines three relational logics involving Islamist activists engaged in the associational field and the political party: professional empowerment, party complementarity and political challenge. The three logics trace a hybrid dynamic of reconfiguration of the Tunisian Islamist movement that challenges binary interpretations of transformation based on the dichotomy of radicalisation/moderation or on teleological narratives that foretell the end of political Islam in Tunisia.