Remaking Urban Space and Democracy: Youth Movements and Spatial Contestations in Tunisia

The 2011 Uprising in Tunisia marked a turning point leading to a democratisation process that granted unprecedented political freedoms. Yet, socio-economic rights remained limited, and corruption persisted among political and economic elites. In this context, Tunisian youth groups began to utilise newly democratised urban spaces to contest governing practices that confined democracy to procedural mechanisms while neglecting socio-economic rights and justice. This article examines how marginalised youth in post-2011 Tunisia (re)appropriated urban spaces as arenas of resistance and reimagined socio-political possibilities by directing attention to two mobilisations: Manich Msamah (“I Do Not Forgive”), which challenged the top-down notion of reconciliation, and the Union of Graduated Unemployed (UDC), which mobilised against socio-economic injustices. The findings show that Tunisian youth mobilisations confront state control and reshape contested urban landscapes by reclaiming streets and turning them into arenas of political expression.