April 2011 - Centre for Civil Society - University of KwaZulu-Natal

ombers. In a world where disgruntled elements take to suicide bombing
as a weapon of coercion and protestation, Bouazizi stands out as an
oppressed and disgruntled youth who wanted to make a sacrifice for
revolution without violence and the killing of innocent souls. Youths do not
have to embark on self-immolation as a sacrifice for a better tomorrow.
But ultimately, they must be ready to make some sacrifices for selfemancipation,
instead of being passive or offering themselves as tools of
manipulation and suppression in the hands of the ruling elites.
In a period when alienated youths are open to manipulation by
conservative forces to shoot up innocent persons or to make themselves
into suicide bombers, the action of Mohammed Bouazizi marked a new
phase of youth action. This new phase was manifest in the statement by
some Tunisian revolutionaries: ‘Mohammed Bouazizi has left us a
testament. We will not abandon our cause.’
WHITHER THE REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS?
Far from retreating from the streets, the demonstrations and positive
actions of the people have galvanised others in Algeria, Libya, Egypt,
Jordan and Yemen. The more the Tunisians made demands for the arrest
of Ben Ali and his family, the more Western leaders sought to limit the
damage and call for stability and social peace. But what is really being
called for is the protection of local and international capital. The Western
capitalists fear the socialists, progressive feminists, trade unionists and
youths who are determined to build a new basis for economic relations
where the wealth of the society would be organised for the well-being of
the people. Already, there is a discussion of the full nationalisation of the
assets that were previously owned by the Ben Ali family. This discussion of
nationalisation stirs fear in the ranks of other capitalists who want to
inherit the politics and economic base of Ben Ali.
How this process will develop in Tunisia will depend on the politics and
organisations that shape the movement in the coming weeks and months.
As one socialist organ proclaimed:
‘Tunisia needs a new democratic government which represents the
national and popular will of the people and represents its own interests.
And a system of this type cannot emerge from the current system and its
institutions or its constitution and its laws, but only on its ruins by a
constituent assembly elected by the people in conditions of freedom and
transparency, after ending the tyranny.’
Revolution is a process, not an event. The revolutionary process in Tunisia
is maturing with twists and turns. Those progressive forces in the
imperialist centres must organise so that the militarists in the West do not
prop up the dictators to hijack the process as the people begin to register
a new historical era. The people have risen with confidence. They want a
break with capitalist exploitation and corrupt leaders. Self-organisation
and self-emancipation for social and economic transformation will take the
popular forces from one stage of consciousness to the next.
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BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS
Horace Campbell is a teacher and writer. Professor Campbell's website
is www.horacecampbell.net. His latest book is 'Barack Obama and 21st
Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA', published by
Pluto Press.
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