Regional Development in Tunisia: The Consequences of Multiple Marginalization

Abstract

This paper attempts to bring back the concept of regional development into the debate on marginalization, with special reference to Tunisia. The ensuing discussion has three aims. Firstly, the paper seeks to critically assess how the brand of development implemented since Tunisia’s independence has affected marginalization. Regional development has not redistributed resources to citizens of the different regions equitably. Secondly, the paper tries to account for the divergences across Tunisia’s regions. Echoing the idea of the “development of underdevelopment,” the discussion shows how regional development atrophied. Lastly, the discussion offers policy recommendations. There is a need for a new developmental bargain that lends credence to state commitments to distributive justice as a pathway to regional development.