Regional disparities and inclusive territorial development in Tunisia: The South-East region– 5in10 with Nessrine Abbassi

By Nessrine Abbasi

Nessrine Abbassi holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Sfax – FSEG (Faculty of Economics and Management), completed in 2022. Her thesis focuses on regional disparities and inclusive growth in Tunisia, using a spatial econometrics approach. She obtained a research master’s degree in 2014 from the Tunis School of Economics and Business (ESSECT) in regional development economics.

A member of the Economics and Rural Societies Laboratory at the Institut des Régions Arides de Médenine (IRA, Médenine) and the University of Gabès, she has also been a member of the Regional Studies Association since 2019. Nessrine has participated in several national and international conferences and has published articles on regional disparities and regional development in Tunisia.

How do you explain your work to someone who may not be an expert in the same field of inquiry and comes from another geographical context?

Tunisia is undergoing a period of transition to democracy. This transition has already been imposed by the popular uprising of 2011 due to several socio-economic problems, including youth unemployment, disparities and lack of accessibility. In addition, the current national situation shows a strong desire among social, academic and political activists to achieve a real balance between exclusion and inclusion. In this sense, inclusive territorial development is a set of qualitative advances associated with inclusive growth.

Nevertheless, this requires a redefinition of regional policies closely linked to the needs and socio-economic particularities of each region. From an operational point of view, this objective obviously requires a territorial approach. We need to choose the right scale of analysis. To do this, it is necessary to base the analysis on meso-spatial realities, such as the Southeast region.

What intrigued you when you started your academic journey? What were formative encounters and challenges?

I’m originally from the south of Tunisia, and more specifically from the Southeast of the country. Indeed, my region is a veritable observation ground for regional disparities and inequalities. Although Tunisia has undergone positive socio-economic transformations, people in the south still suffer from marginalization. It is essential to mention that social inequalities exist everywhere in the world, but they sometimes give rise to moral and sentimental inequalities.  In Tunisia, the South or Southeast occupies a unique position in social and ethical terms. As a result, the treatment of people from the South is reflected in both public and academic circles.

Although many groups in the South have challenged this way of thinking, it is still very much present in vulnerable and marginalized households. For various reasons, people in the South feel marginalized and segregated by unequal development policies, believing that their destiny is to be marginalized: unemployment, poverty, social exclusion. The gap between Tunisia’s coastal and inland regions continues to raise questions about the effectiveness of regional development policies. From this perspective, taking territorial specificities into account is a factor likely to reduce and remedy this economic divide.

How does your work relate to imaginations of the future, and how does it address questions of disparities?

In this research project, my ambition is not to be exhaustive, but to act to find the solution that will revitalize the regions of the South with and for the future and current generation. The aim of my study is to identify the obstacles to development and the levers for action, considering the impact of spatial and social origins on regional development.

My hypothesis is to contextualize the solidarity initiatives that exist in the Southeast within the scientific discourse on territorial development and to consider them as an appropriation initiated by local actors. This work contributes to proposing useful analyses for understanding the nature of disparities and identifying gaps in approaches for overcoming the present towards a more propitious and inclusive future.

What is the role of humanities and social sciences in times of upheaval? And what may be the task and the public of a scholar?

My project aims to respond directly to the demands of a new development approach. In these times of upheaval, both groups of disciplines are called upon to provide more realistic answers to social, economic, political, and other problems. The role of the social sciences is essential, as they represent the most privileged context for the formation of concepts stemming from genuine interdisciplinarity.

As a socio-economic researcher, I feel duty-bound to critically read the regional realities I observe. Research in the humanities and social sciences enables us to adopt an action-research approach, aimed at creating useful knowledge for field actors, while contributing to the advancement of territorial development research in Tunisia. This consolidates the synergy and back-and-forth between reality and theory and enables us to propose more realistic analyses in line with the needs of humanity.

Can you recommend a book, text, film, or exhibition that effectively addresses questions and imaginations of the future while dealing with inequalities in interesting ways?

Several works in the field of territorial development have been carried out to decipher the consequences of inequitable economic development. In Tunisia, for example, I particularly recommend the book of the “father of geographer”, Professor Amor Belhedi, La Fracture Territoriale (2012), which provides valuable information on territorial gaps. Another significant work is by Laurent Davezies. His book entitled La République et ses territoires: La circulation invisible des richesses (Seuil, “La République des idées”, 2008) explores the hidden dynamics of wealth circulation in France, and was reviewed by Benoit Ladouceur for Lectures, available at http://lectures.revues.org/542.

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Citation: Regional disparities and inclusive territorial development in Tunisia: The South-East region– 5in10 with Nessrine Abbassi, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 17.12.2024, https://trafo.hypotheses.org/53973

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