"A second position argues against transition, which is transitology itself. It is well known—especially among economists—as the sudden mobilization of a considerable mass of experts who are generally foreigners,generally Western, who come to preach the good word and to propose ready-made models of democracy. The science of the transition has become a financial windfall, a market. And the word transition has of course become a reflex of language, a term of reference, a call for tenders (appel d’offres) to which the whole society was supposed to respond. Consequently, the reticence that one can express is the following: our history is framed, transition is a heteronomy. Every democratic revolution is henceforth supposed to take a unique, imposed path, which is, at the same time, indistinctly democratic and liberal (or neoliberal). A more or less non-“negotiable” package.
It is necessary to highlight the imposed character (and imposed from the outside) of this coming to transition. Yet, the problem is that, in so doing, one also expresses certain closures, and a response that is possibly counterproductive. If democratic transition is (or should be) a good thing, can one refuse it in the name of its injunctive character, of the paternalism of international organisms, and the numerous experts who come to sell it, or finance, verify and control its application? The unease with this concept comes from the unequivocal character of this model of the transition, sold as a ready-made product, which is a liberal capitalist model. At the same time, we remark that the debates on an alternative model are not so numerous in the Tunisian public space. Even though the World Social Forum was hosted twice in Tunis, in 2013 and 2015, it did not lead to vocal public debates regarding alternative models of transition. And the alternative experiences mostly concern the associative sector, often in the regional, rural, local peripheries, rather than the most visible central public sphere.
Today, barring a few exceptions, we all live in “aligned” countries. Here I am thinking of the informal meaning of the phrase: “to align someone,” (aligner quelqu’un), which means to subdue someone, make them conform (faire rentrer dans le rang)."
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