Tunisian Youth Engagement through Music

• In Event: Education and Activism Redux II

Proposal

Youth are often at the forefront of new cultures, expressing new ideas, creating new ways of using language, redefining social norms and societal aspirations. Yet in certain regions around the world, youth voices are not heard as much as they could be even when they make up the demographic majority and are the largest stakeholders of tomorrow’s world.

This paper focuses on youth in Tunisia post Arab Spring in the context of Tunisia88, an afterschool program in all 586 public high schools in the country. In each of these high schools, there is a student-led music club where students write their own songs and organize community outreach events. Since 2015, they have generated over 400 songs mostly in Tunisian Arabic in which they have collectively decided to cover topics such as the state of their country, clandestine migration, girls’ education, domestic violence as well as matters of mental health challenges that strike the Tunisian population. They have also organized over 800 community outreach events through music in their own high school, orphanages, elementary schools, blood donation drives, remote villages among others raising awareness on various social issues.

In the spirit of youth participatory action research (YPAR) and critical pedagogy, this qualitative research explores the students’ acts of protest through music: What significance and meaning do their songs and events have in the context of Tunisia post Arab Spring? What do they tell us about the Tunisian youth’s social imaginary, engagement, and aspirations in the current social, economic, and political context of their country? Current students of the program are interviewed individually and in focus group discussions about their songs and experiences.

The paper contributes to empirical research on Tunisian youth culture post revolution and amplifies their realities, aspirations, and experiences. It also illuminates potential ways youth and adults can collaborate and participate in policy making, community building, education, and research to redefine social norms and societal aspirations.

Authors

• Erina Iwasaki, MLE International

• Jasmine Williams