Understanding young feminist activism in the Post Arab Spring Era: A Case Study of youth-led feminist Grassroots Movements in Jordan and Tunisia

"During and following the events of the Arab uprisings in 2011, new modalities of women's activism have emerged across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) including- but not limited to the rise of online women's activism on social media (Al-Rawi, 2014) and individual forms of activism such as nude protest photos by activists in Egypt (Karakus, 2012) and Tunisia (The Guardian, 2013).

Several young feminist activist groups have also evolved and matured including Tal3at from Palestine, Takatoat (intersectionality) in Jordan, Fe-Male in Lebanon and Aswat Nisa (voices of women) in Tunisia.

These groups and young feminist voices have demonstrated being more independent and political than their predecessors (Idiabes, 2019).

With an emphasis on issues considered taboos, like identity and body-related issues, these new voices have turned to other contestation strategies mainly rooted in using art, leaderless campaigns and employing virtual technology (Sadiqi, 2019; Al Atiyat, 2020).

Despite the growing interest in these emerging young feminist voices, more a decade later this potentially new "wave" of feminist activism remains unstudied as a distinct movement.

Instead, literature on Arab feminist activism in relation to the Arab Spring views them as a "continuation" of the previous Arab Women's activism (Khamis and Mili, 2017; Charrad and Stephan, 2020).

Research aims This research aims to examine whether post-Arab Spring feminism should be conceptualised as a new wave and study it through the lens of feminist social movement theory.

By studying youth-led feminist groups in Jordan and Tunisia, this project asks to what extent are they making a rupture to old notions and concepts of gender equality and women's rights in the region through the meanings they make as they mobilize, advocate, produce knowledge, and engage with people.

Sub-questions to ask: What issues of gender equality and women's rights do they engage with and what forms and modalities of activism do these young feminist groups employ to engage with young people and the wider community? How do they "frame" their demands on women's rights? Are these frames "resonant" with their communities or are they "disruptive" and challenging norms?

How do they construct or deconstruct concepts of human rights and gender equality and what sort of knowledge are they producing?

What challenges do they face as they mobilize in different cultural and political settings in the post-Arab Spring era? (Tunisia is an example of a secular country in transition Jordan is an unreformed autocracy heavily influenced by tribal and Islamic parties).

Proposed methodologies In order to answer the research questions, the researcher will take women's activism in Jordan and Tunisia as ethnographic case studies by working with Aswat Nisaa in Tunisia and Takatoat in Jordan.

While they will be the primary focus of the research, the researcher will also look at other forms of activism that have emerged including individual activists and lesser-known grassroots movements in both countries.

Literature review during the first year of study will focus on feminist Arab activism in the last decade as well as before the uprisings, feminist social movement theory and research methods.

During the second year, the student will undertake fieldwork, spending at least a full academic semester in each country (Fall 2025 in Jordan and spring 2026 in Tunisia) to implement ethnographic participant observation methods by spending time with the feminist groups and supporters.

In addition to this, the following qualitative and feminist research methods will be used: Semi-structured interviews with representatives of selected feminist groups and other individual feminist activists. Focus groups with young men and women; both supporters and participants of events and campaigns.

Gathering and documenting materials produced by feminist activists. Ethnographic participant observa