Social Change and Individual Freedoms for Tunisian Youth: What is the Relationship?

Abstract

This study monitors the diverse manifestations of individual freedom among the Tunisian youth, based on the results of both desk and field research. These manifestations can be dealt with from three angles: independence from the community and the family, the development of the individualization trend in the relationship with religion, and the growth of individual sovereignty over the body, especially with regard to sexuality. An analysis of the results of these studies shows that the yearning for independence and individual success has become a general phenomenon for young people in cities, as well as in the countryside. The emergence of the individual also manifests in the youth clinging to freedom in dealing with religion, and the spread of liberal sexuality patterns that reflect the extent of their attachment to ownership over their bodies.