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Sovereignty from Below: State Feminism and Politics of Women Against Women in Tunisia

Rather than conceptualizing sovereignty as coming from a nation state, Yacoubi seeks to introduce a feminist sovereignty inspired by the women dissidents of the Tunisian Revolution. This new feminist sovereignty is based in linkages between people through public space using expressive forms of femininity to reject an essentialized notion of what Tunisia is. The Tunisian Revolution in 2011 marked a shift away from state feminism that had dominated Tunisia to one rooted in grassroots organizing. Although state feminism was focused on increasing women’s political participation, it was largely led by men and relied on enacting change through the state, who would only further women’s rights according to its own political interests. Tunisian feminist sovereignty encompasses bodily autonomy and self-sovereignty at its core, subverting restrictions imposed upon a woman’s right to choose and the right to her body.

Yacoubi, Imen. “SOVEREIGNTY FROM BELOW: STATE FEMINISM AND POLITICS OF WOMEN AGAINST WOMEN IN TUNISIA.” The Arab Studies Journal 24, no. 1 (2016): 254-74. www.jstor.org/stable/44746854.

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