La force de la désobéissance : retour sur la chute du régime de Ben Ali

The Tunisian protest movement that led to the fall of President Ben Ali is notable for its apparent lack of formal leadership. Of course, the national trade union confederation, the UGTT (Tunisian General Labor Union), supported collective action once it had been launched by a young out-of-work generation and assumed a popular, non-partisan dimension mobilising all social categories. The UGTT was not however, the force behind the escalation of this event from a local conflict in Sidi Bouzid to an event of national significance. The protest movement became politicized and took on national significance largely as a result of amplification through information and communication technologies. We should not lose sight however, of the fact that the ?success? of the popular uprising was due in many important ways to a ?palace revolution? led by the army and supported by certain elements among the reigning oligarchs.