Thank you Nadia of your reaction, which gives me hope that, ultimately, all is not gone up in smoke 'on the blogopshère. I really appreciate how you try to put things in perspective and not to succumb to the demagoguery and ease. Here is a link facebook for the article in question since the blog of Nadia is unfortunately not visible in Tunisia. I never cease
Never say it and denounce it. The atmosphere on the blogosphere has become unhealthy since militants of all stripes have discovered this space, and even if I really want to pack up at times, I know I will never leave because I was there though before all these leaders of the mobs are only aware of the existence of the Internet.
Two years ago I sounded the alarm on seeing that our community 'is politicized' (in the sense of manipulation and not the commitment, because in absolute terms I see it as a good something that activists on the left or right to be part of TN-blogs). The problem is that since the prosélythisme they have been allowed, the rhetoric of virtually all bloggers and commentators all started changing, becoming more and more uniform, predictable, and especially aggressive. reflection gave way to confrontation, or bullying, and sometimes even to impute motives. We do more critically, it argues.
reactions to my penultimate post are a small example of the kind of eloquent enough damage that the blogosphere has suffered because by dint of reading the same thing every day, we end up being blind to other forms of expression. When I say that "today in Tunisia there are more constraints on freedom of expression" and explain that, in the same sentence , by what means people could get rid of these constraints to make this assertion true .. Well no! the explanation is thrown in the trash and we keep the first part of the sentence. Waylun lil musallina.
So to cut short a debate announced: yes I am very closely the politics of this country and many others. Yes I have opinions quite clear about what is good and what is bad for the country. No I'm not close to that environment, even if I learned to know him better and better understood in the context of my studies and my profession in the past. I've never been in a political rally Tunisian whether for or against the government. All my student life in Tunisia and abroad was made to work, work and work again because it was expensive and that the failure was never allowed. I have never participated in activities with political overtones in Tunisia because I do not listen to speeches outside academia. And I do not applaud it either.
Good.
Now it is true that to qualify any subject may wear my 'bad' board policy in the eyes of a number of people. That's what many of my teachers have suffered when they tried to understand, just "understand" why September 11 occurred. They refused to debate with them because they were told there was not much to analyze and it was "obvious" conflict of values between East and West democratic autocratic. I know my situation is not comparable to theirs but I understand a bit about their experiences because the notion of 'censorship' has become as sacred and as fixed as that of 'terrorism'. It is not allowed to touch or try to deconstruct it. That said I have no problem with the fact that people I 'rank', and it does not prevent me to continue to think because it's my job.
If I have an advice for bloggers is trying to step back from everything that happens. Activism is great, but only when it's done and it comes mostly self-criticism and questioning. I am part of a number of international coalitions in my research and I get to work with people from around the world without ever feeling compelled to express myself in a certain way because it is 'good' and that all others are 'bad'. This is not the case for the Tunisian blogosphere.
Good luck to all. This item has been without a title because I wanted people to read it in full, for once, 'without Judging the Book By The Cover':)
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