Structural Reform and the Political Economy of Poverty Reduction in Tunisia: What Role for Civil Society?

Despite the inclusion of poverty concerns in World Bank and IMF stabilisation and structural reform analytical reports, these reforms continue to be perceived as leading to a stagnation or even worsening of social conditions in countries where they are implemented. Indeed, the priority given to reduction in government budget deficits often implies a disengagement of the state from social provisioning. In such a situation, the space left is likely to be filled by nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) that provide social welfare support to the losers of the reforms. In countries with a strong religious tradition, the space is likely to be filled to a large extent by faith-based organisations. There is evidence that this has been the case in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, for example in Egypt, Jordan and Palestine (Lubeck 1998, Roy 2000, Wiktorowicz and Farouki 2000). This is clearly a positive development, as it allows cushioning the social impact of economic reforms by providing valuable services to the most vulnerable. Furthermore, faith-based social provisioning has often been found to increase faith-based political influence, particularly in Muslim countries, thereby contributing to political pluralism.74 In the MENA region, the extensive provision of social welfare by Islamic charity organisations (for example, in Egypt and Jordan), has led to an increased influence of political Islam as a force of opposition to authoritarian rulers75 (Benthall and Bellion-Jourdan 2003, Wiktorowicz and Farouki 2000).