Bourguibism

{{Short description|Policies of the first Tunisian president, Habib Bourguiba}}{{Habib Bourguiba sidebar}}

Bourguibism ({{langx|ar|البورقيبية}} al-Būrqībiyah, {{langx|fr|bourguibisme}}) refers to the policies of Habib Bourguiba, the first President of Tunisia, and his followers.

Bourguibism is defined by a strong commitment to national independence and specifically Tunisian nationalism (as opposed to pan-Maghrebi or pan-Arab ideas),{{Cite book |first=Christopher |last=Alexander |title=Tunisia: Stability and Reform in the Modern Maghreb |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |pages=100–101}}{{Cite book |first=Michael C. |last=Hudson |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1977 |title=Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy |pages=385}} a state capitalist approach on economic development,{{Cite book |first=Christopher |last=Alexander |title=Tunisia: Stability and Reform in the Modern Maghreb |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |pages=7, 112}}{{Cite book |first=Nazih N. |last=Ayubi |author-link= Nazih Ayubi |title=Over-stating the Arab State: Politics and Society in the Middle East |publisher=I.B. Tauris |year=2009 |page=212}} welfare state,{{Cite book |first=Jean-Pierre |last=Cassarino |title=Participatory Development and Liberal Reforms in Tunisia: The Gradual Incorporation of Some Economic Networks |work=Networks of Privilege in the Middle East |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2004 |page=229}} a statist and corporatist interpretation of populism,{{Cite book |first1=Elie |last1=Podeh |first2=Onn |last2=Winckler |title=Introduction: Nasserism as a Form of Populism |work=Rethinking Nasserism: Revolution and Historical Memory in Modern Egypt |page=27}} strict secularism,{{Cite book |first=Michael C. |last=Hudson |publisher=Yale University Press |year=1977 |title=Arab Politics: The Search for Legitimacy |pages=380–381}} and cultural modernity, advocating Tunisia's place as a bridge between Arab-Islamic and Western civilisation.{{Cite book |first=John Obert |last=Voll |title=Islam: Continuity and Change in the Modern World |edition=Second |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=1994 |page=331}} While Bourguibists condemned Tunisians who had collaborated with the French colonial rulers,{{Cite book |first=Michele Penner |last=Angrist |title=Party Building in the Modern Middle East |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=2006 |page=112}} they did not repress the strong European cultural influence on Tunisia and French continued to be the language of higher education and elite culture.{{Cite book |first1=John L. |last1=Esposito |first2=John O. |last2=Voll |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |title=Makers of Contemporary Islam |page=92}} Bourguibism is sometimes described as a variety of Kemalism but with focus on the Tunisian identity.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2014/11/12/tunisia-first-impressions/|title=Tunisia: First Impressions|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|date=12 November 2014|accessdate=25 November 2014|author=Steve A. Cook|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141127195208/http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2014/11/12/tunisia-first-impressions/|archive-date=27 November 2014|url-status=dead}}

As a political style or strategy, Bourguibism is characterised by intransigence in pursuing certain goals and non-negotiable principles combined with flexibility in negotiations and readiness to compromise considering the means to effectuate them.{{Cite book |first=Clement Henry |last=Moore |title=Tunisia Since Independence: The Dynamics of One-Party Government |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1965 |pages=44–45}} It is therefore described as pragmatic, non-ideological, moderate, and reformist rather than revolutionary, but determined and relentless at the same time.{{Cite book |first=Christopher |last=Alexander |title=Tunisia: Stability and Reform in the Modern Maghreb |publisher=Routledge |year=2010 |pages=111}}{{Cite book |editor-first=Ronals |editor-last=Steel |title=North Africa |series=The Reference Shelf |volume=38 |number=5 |publisher=H. W. Wilson Co. |year=1967 |page=104}} For example, despite being decidedly secularist, Bourguiba made sure to curtail the public role of Islam only carefully and gradually, in order not to arouse opposition from conservative Muslims.