عمي بشير ينقش...
[...] The 1980s: A Time of Procrastination
By 1980 an entire new generation was coming of age in North Africa. Large segments were literate, informed, politically sophisticated and articulate. They had never lived under colonial rule and to them the national liberation movement was just another chapter in their history books to be memorised for exams, Bourguiba an ailing and somewhat senile dictator, Ben Bella a dissident in exile, Boumédiène the protector of a predatory class and Hassan II a king to be respected as Commander of the Faithful but feared as commander of the secret police.
In each country the population considered that it had a tacit contract with the rulers whereby the latter would be left to rule unhampered as long as they guaranteed a minimum standard of living for the former. By and large politics and politicians were scorned, ridiculed, envied, courted or, most often feared and avoided. A vivid illustration of popular passivity towards politics is the Tunisian popular notion of khubzist or follower of the "bread party." However, passivity gave way to activism when the contract was broken.
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By 1980 an entire new generation was coming of age in North Africa. Large segments were literate, informed, politically sophisticated and articulate. They had never lived under colonial rule and to them the national liberation movement was just another chapter in their history books to be memorised for exams, Bourguiba an ailing and somewhat senile dictator, Ben Bella a dissident in exile, Boumédiène the protector of a predatory class and Hassan II a king to be respected as Commander of the Faithful but feared as commander of the secret police.
In each country the population considered that it had a tacit contract with the rulers whereby the latter would be left to rule unhampered as long as they guaranteed a minimum standard of living for the former. By and large politics and politicians were scorned, ridiculed, envied, courted or, most often feared and avoided. A vivid illustration of popular passivity towards politics is the Tunisian popular notion of khubzist or follower of the "bread party." However, passivity gave way to activism when the contract was broken.
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posted by Slaim at 7:38 AM
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