Resistance to international democracy promotion in Morocco and Tunisia

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Authors

Adopting a perspective of resistance and appropriation on the ‘agency of the governed’, this article brings together the study of international cooperation with approaches borrowed from social anthropology in order to analyse the responses of Moroccan and Tunisian government officials to EU democracy promotion before and after the Arab uprisings of 2011. The comparison across countries and over time highlights how ‘subversive’ appropriation as ‘hidden’ resistance enables authoritarian regimes to deflect external demands while reaping the benefits of cooperation. It thus sheds light on the agency of ‘recipients’ of international democracy promotion efforts and their ability to shape the process and outcome of ‘transfer’ already at the level of intergovernmental relations.
Original languageEnglish
JournalThird World Thematics: A TWQ Journal
Volume2
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)637-657
Number of pages21
ISSN2380-2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2017

    Research areas

  • Politics - democracy promotion, resistance, appropriation, EU, Morocco, Tunisia, North Africa, Arab Spring