Towards a Critical Democracy Promotion Agenda? Liminal Allyship in EU–Tunisian Relations

Abstract

This article reflects on the EU's thought and practice of democracy promotion in its Southern neighbourhood through a critical approach to allyship. This approach centres the demos', or Arab publics', yearnings for emancipation and their aspirations to dignified lives. The article proposes the notion of ‘liminal allyship’, neither taken for granted nor stable, but shaped by inequalities of power and resources within (post)colonial settings such as Tunisia. (Mis)matches between values and practices impact allyship even vis-à-vis a shared, declared goal like democratisation. To illustrate the argument empirically, the article will draw on interviews with Tunisian civil society activists and primary data from online and social media. The exploratory case study gauges Tunisian assessments of EU democracy promotion in times of a ‘democratic degeneration’ in Tunisia and of a geopolitical crisis between Europe and the Arab world triggered by the war in Gaza. Findings point to a possible turning point in this relationship of ‘liminal allyship’, which faces scepticism that is unprecedented since Tunisian democratisation took off in 2011.