مثقفون في الهامش وتقنيون في السلطة: الحالة التونسية بعد 2011

Abstract

This article examines the position of the intellectual in Tunisia’s post-2011 transitional period, comparing his potential role as a critical and reflective actor with the dominance of technicians, experts, and educated elites who took control of political and administrative decision-making. The study argues that the absence of intellectuals from the public sphere weakened the democratic transition, as politics shifted into a technical management of crises rather than a space for rethinking fundamental issues such as the development model, the nature of the state, transitional justice, collective identity, and the transformation of social awareness. The article draws on diverse theoretical perspectives, including those of Gramsci, Edward Said, Al-Jabri, and Al-Sharabi, to emphasize that the true intellectual does not remain confined to narrow academic specialization but engages in public debate and exercises criticism for the common good. In contrast, post-revolution Tunisia witnessed the rise of bureaucratic, economic, and legal elites, while the independent intellectual retreated. In this context, we observe the dominance of militant capital, kinship ties, and partisan loyalty at the expense of intellectual capital. The article also notes that media and digital transformations further reduced the influence of intellectuals compared to the past. It concludes that the emerging democracy cannot be consolidated without the contribution of intellectuals, as they can raise fundamental questions and steering debates beyond purely technical and procedural solutions, opening the way for comprehensive visions that combine politics, culture, and social justice.