Konferansa Davet “Inequality and Racism in Tunisia: Historical Precedents and Present-Day Crises,” moderated by Catey Boyle and Shreya Parikh

Dear colleagues,

CMS is sponsoring a special event on racism in Tunisia:

“Inequality and Racism in Tunisia: Historical Precedents and Present-Day Crises,” moderated by Catey Boyle and Shreya Parikh. http://centermaghribstudies.org/graduate-committee/

Date and Time: Thursday 6 April 2023, 9am AZ/12pm East Coast/17h Tunis/18h France.

The flyer is attached. Please feel free to share. Here's the Zoom link for registration: https://asu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcu2pqzMuGdUBs9wX1xVYJv58WPzP8XXL

Tunisian President Kais Saied’s 21 February remarks deploring “hordes of illegal migrants” as a threat to the country’s “Islamic and Arab” identity have unleashed new waves of violence against individuals racialized as Black and African in Tunisia. Is this moment indeed a rupture in the country’s post-independence policy of color-blindness and national unity?

By bringing together historians, activists, and social scientists, this virtual panel will reflect on how Saied’s comments in fact mirror structural policies of anti-Black racism, xenophobia, and Global-North supported migration politics in Tunisia. We will ask: What are the structural and historical roots of anti-Black sentiments and institutions in Tunisia? How does racism in Tunisia impact sub-Saharan and Black Tunisian populations? How can one understand the dominant role of the European Union in anti-migrant ideologies and institutions in Tunisia? What motivates Saied to espouse “great replacement” conspiracy theories in the current socio-political moment?

Please join us to learn more about the historical precedents to the unfolding situation in Tunisia, and how folks on the ground are responding to this violence.