Rebels at work. Female workers standing up together in the (post) Tunisian revolution
Barrières, Sarah
Rebels at work. Female workers standing up together in the (post) Tunisian revolution - 2021.
51
During the Tunisian revolution, which began at the end of 2010, social gender relationships were redefined by women’s massive participation in the protests. In this context, a female workers’ struggle, which has been unique both in terms of its duration and its methods of organization and actions, took place from 2011 to 2014 within a French multinational’s subsidiary. To cope with the deplorable working conditions (humiliation, sexual harassment, long hours, etc.), the workers organized under the banner of the country’s main trade union center, the ugtt. By favoring inclusive and little-hierarchized operations and modes of action, the almost exclusively female grassroots union allowed speaking more freely and helped shift the boundaries of gender. This article focuses on the two female union leaders, both with a propensity for activism which evolved and transformed as the event unfolded, and also shows how various registers of action were mobilized due to the ambivalent relationship between the struggle and the union structures, and to its radicalization in the face of increasingly harsh employer repression.
Rebels at work. Female workers standing up together in the (post) Tunisian revolution - 2021.
51
During the Tunisian revolution, which began at the end of 2010, social gender relationships were redefined by women’s massive participation in the protests. In this context, a female workers’ struggle, which has been unique both in terms of its duration and its methods of organization and actions, took place from 2011 to 2014 within a French multinational’s subsidiary. To cope with the deplorable working conditions (humiliation, sexual harassment, long hours, etc.), the workers organized under the banner of the country’s main trade union center, the ugtt. By favoring inclusive and little-hierarchized operations and modes of action, the almost exclusively female grassroots union allowed speaking more freely and helped shift the boundaries of gender. This article focuses on the two female union leaders, both with a propensity for activism which evolved and transformed as the event unfolded, and also shows how various registers of action were mobilized due to the ambivalent relationship between the struggle and the union structures, and to its radicalization in the face of increasingly harsh employer repression.
Réseaux sociaux