IB History Revolution in Tunisia Questionbank

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was unemployment the main cause of revolutionary protest in Tunisia?

Source A: Adapted from Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the Assessment Mission to Tunisia, 2011.

Youth and unemployed women and men in the central and western regions began the December 2010 demonstrations. Their demands joined economic and social rights to civil and political rights, including dignity, fair opportunity and an end to arbitrary treatment.

Source B: Adapted from Human Rights Watch, A Middle Class Revolution, 19 January 2011.

The uprising exposed grievances hidden by Tunisia's image of stability. People resented regional inequality, declining living standards, police extortion and the wealth of the president's relatives. Mohamed Bouazizi's protest became a trigger because these economic and political complaints had accumulated for years.

Source C: Photograph by CJB, 20 January 2011, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-tunisia-emergence-2011.jpg

Demonstrators face police lines on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis, 20 January 2011.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was unemployment the main cause of revolutionary protest in Tunisia?

Source A: Adapted from Human Rights Watch, World Report 2009: Tunisia.

Protests in the Gafsa mining region arose from corruption, joblessness and rising prices. Security forces sealed off the region, arrested movement leaders and restricted journalists, showing that economic grievances were intensified by repression and the absence of peaceful channels for opposition.

Source B: Adapted from International Monetary Fund, Tunisia: 2010 Article IV Consultation.

Tunisia had weathered the global crisis with relatively strong growth and prudent macroeconomic management. The principal challenge was to reduce unemployment, especially among young graduates, and raise productivity and investment so that growth could create more jobs.

Source C: Photograph by CJB, 20 January 2011, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-tunisia-emergence-2011.jpg

Demonstrators face police lines on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in central Tunis, 20 January 2011.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was social media the most important means by which Tunisian protesters challenged authority?

Source A: Adapted from Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report of the Assessment Mission to Tunisia, 2011.

Digital activists used social networks to circulate information, demands and videos of demonstrations beyond the places where they occurred. These tools accelerated mobilization, but street protests, labour organization and the willingness of people to confront security forces turned communication into political pressure.

Source B: Adapted from Reporters Without Borders, report on internet censorship during the Tunisian uprising, January 2011.

Authorities blocked websites, intercepted passwords and targeted bloggers as online images and reports escaped official media controls. Activists repeatedly created new routes for material to circulate, turning censorship itself into evidence of the government's fear of independent communication.

Source C: Photograph by M. Rais, 23 January 2011, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-tunisia-challenge-2011.jpg

Demonstrators gather in Government Square during the Liberation Caravan following the Tunisian Revolution, 23 January 2011.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent was social media the most important means by which Tunisian protesters challenged authority?

Source A: Adapted from Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, televised address to the Tunisian people, 13 January 2011.

The president promised complete freedom for the press and internet, lower food prices and an end to police use of live ammunition. He said he had been misled about conditions and would not seek another term, presenting concessions as a way to restore calm.

Source B: Adapted from Tunisian General Labour Union, statement during the January 2011 general strikes.

Regional union organizations supported strikes and demonstrations demanding employment, liberty and dignity. The labour movement linked local protests, gave participants established meeting networks and increased pressure through work stoppages as mobilization reached major cities.

Source C: Photograph by M. Rais, 23 January 2011, reproduced via Wikimedia Commons.

image: p1-tunisia-challenge-2011.jpg

Demonstrators gather in Government Square during the Liberation Caravan following the Tunisian Revolution, 23 January 2011.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.

Source set

Overarching inquiry question: To what extent did the Tunisian Revolution produce lasting political and social change by 2015?

Source A: Adapted from Human Rights Watch, World Report 2012: Tunisia.

Tunisians gained freedoms of political organization, expression and assembly unmatched since independence, and elected a pluralist Constituent Assembly. Yet police violence continued, judicial reform was delayed and new disputes tested the authorities' commitment to freedom of expression.

Source B: Adapted from Human Rights Watch, World Report 2015: Tunisia.

The new constitution and national elections marked important democratic progress. At the same time, security legislation, prosecutions affecting expression and incomplete accountability for past abuses showed that legal reform had not removed every authoritarian practice or social grievance.

Source C: Adapted from Independent High Authority for Elections, report on the 23 October 2011 Constituent Assembly election.

The election was organized under a new pluralist framework with competing party lists and extensive voter participation. It provided a representative assembly with authority to draft a constitution, although the transition still depended on political negotiation and public confidence in new institutions.

Using the three provided sources and considering the overarching inquiry question, respond to all three questions.