The Salafi movement in Tunisia in general and in the area of Sidi Ali Ben Aoun in particular, emerged as an antisocial movement that adopted the defense of a cultural identity based mainly on the rejection of democracy and the foundations of the modern state, seeking change in every way through a set of well-studied strategies that made young people deeply involved. In general, the Salafi movement is not separated from the social context in which it was born. It is also a reflection of the social actors who, by engaging in the Salafi movement, desire to achieve their objectives in negotiations. The Salafi movement is a social movement born out of the womb of society and its crises. It then adopted the same society, which has been muddling in the ignorance of religion and worldly dichotomies, as a target for change. This study attributes the growth in the number of Salafist youth to social exclusion. The social conditions of the youth in the Tunisian town of Sidi Ali Ben Aoun and of Tunisian youth in general make them look for alternatives that will provides them with what the state and its institutions failed to provide: an income and a small capital that will elevate their status in the social pyramid as belonging to the surviving group. The research will focus on the relationship between the social exclusion of Tunisian youth and the growing involvement of the Salafi movement. The following questions reflect the core issues behind this investigation:
What are the representations of the youth of Sidi Ali Ben Aoun to the Salafi movement in their actions and interactions? How does social exclusion contribute to the growing involvement of Tunisian and Ben Aouni youth in the Salafi movement?
University of California Press