About
My research topic is on gender, specifically women’s rights, in Tunis from the 19th to the 21st century. Tunis is the capital city of Tunisia and a port city that has brought economic surplus to Tunisia. The digital platform that I chose to use was Story Maps cascade with a combination with weebly.com in order illustrate a visual jounrny of my project. I divided my Story Maps cascade in three era’s in Tunisian history precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial. In my story maps, I began my project by discussing the female experience in the city of Tunis under the hegemony of the declining Ottoman Empire. 19th Tunisia was a province of the Ottoman Empire; however, it was rapidly declining due to external conflict. The lives of Tunisian women drastically changed from the 19th century to the 20th century. Tunisian women’s rights were extremely limited in 19th century Tunis, however, on the eve of the French conquest. Tunisian women began to take active participation in Tunisia politics by protesting the French occupation. In 1936 the Muslim Union of Women of Tunisia (UMFT) was created by Bachira Ben M’rad to promote women’s rights. In the second section of my story maps, I will address the steps toward gender equality in French-era Tunisia, 1881-1956. In colonial Tunisia, the city of Tunis became the radix of the first Tunisian feminist movement and the location of several progressive projects. The establishment of the first modern schools for girls were also placed in Tunis during the colonial period. In the third section, I will discuss the achievements in women’s rights in postcolonial Tunis. Such as the Tunisian code of personal status, which only allowed marriage to take place with consent by both parties, voting rights, and abortion rights. After the Tunisian independence women became a significant part of the workforce. And gained access to numerous careers in the Tunisian workforce including the armed forces. Tunisian women achieved further rights in the 2014 Tunisian constitution after the Tunisian independence, in which women were a significant part of. Over a long history of significant achievements in gender equality, Tunisia has become one of the world most progressive country in terms of women’s rights.
For this project, I have used a combination historical/contemporary photographs, scholarly, secondary sources, and primary sources. Several of the historical images that I gathered are from Library of Congress Digital Collection and New York Public library digital collection. The historical question that I purpose is : What has been the evolution of women rights in the modernizing city of Tunis from precolonial to postcolonial Tunis, in terms of economic, social and cultural rights? With this question, I will explore the history of the city of Tunis through the perspective of gender. I began the analyses of my research question and project by looking at secondary first such as A History of Modern Tunisia by Kenneth J. Perkins which provides an overview history of Tunisia. Perkins historical monograph was a great introduction to the city of Tunis, however, the following secondary sources that I used were more specific to gender in the city of Tunis. Such as Women, the State, and Political Liberalization by Laurie A. Brand and States and Women’s Rights by Mounira M. Charrad that provide an in-depth analysis of women’s rights in Tunis. For my primary sources, I used historical photographs, historical documents, and eye witness testimony. I have also used two in-class sources which are Gender in the city Women, Migration and Contested Spaces in Tunis 1830-81 by Julia Clancy-Smith and Anderson and Rathbone, Introduction from Africa’s’ Urban past.
For this project, I have used a combination historical/contemporary photographs, scholarly, secondary sources, and primary sources. Several of the historical images that I gathered are from Library of Congress Digital Collection and New York Public library digital collection. The historical question that I purpose is : What has been the evolution of women rights in the modernizing city of Tunis from precolonial to postcolonial Tunis, in terms of economic, social and cultural rights? With this question, I will explore the history of the city of Tunis through the perspective of gender. I began the analyses of my research question and project by looking at secondary first such as A History of Modern Tunisia by Kenneth J. Perkins which provides an overview history of Tunisia. Perkins historical monograph was a great introduction to the city of Tunis, however, the following secondary sources that I used were more specific to gender in the city of Tunis. Such as Women, the State, and Political Liberalization by Laurie A. Brand and States and Women’s Rights by Mounira M. Charrad that provide an in-depth analysis of women’s rights in Tunis. For my primary sources, I used historical photographs, historical documents, and eye witness testimony. I have also used two in-class sources which are Gender in the city Women, Migration and Contested Spaces in Tunis 1830-81 by Julia Clancy-Smith and Anderson and Rathbone, Introduction from Africa’s’ Urban past.