Des maux de la misère auxmots de la « dignité ». La révolution tunisienne de janvier 2011

The theory of ?Revolutionary Voluntarism? which was very popular within leftist groups on a worldwide scale during the 1960s and 1970s, was undermined by the spontaneous character of the Tunisian revolution of January 2011. In the field of sociology of mobilizations, this idea takes the form of a theoretical focus on the role of organizations and their resources during the mobilization process. This notion is not instrumental in grasping the sudden politicization of the economic demands (bread, work) of the Tunisian ?sub-proletariat?. This ?increase in generality? would undoubtedly have been impossible without a preliminary framing in terms of ?the fight for dignity?. This framing process, which was non-intentional, allowed the coalition of different social categories around a clear objective: the departure of President Ben Ali and the Trabelsi family. Finally, the Tunisian revolution shows the speed with which social suffering can be framed and thus become unbearable. Words are sometimes more effective in the process of mobilization than any kind of revolutionary ?vanguard?.