Shaping contention as a Salafi Movement: The rise and fall of Ansar al-Sharia in post-revolutionary Tunisia

The rise and fall of Ansar al-Sharia in Tunisia (AST) in the aftermath of the 2011 Tunisian uprising is indicative of the opportunities and pitfall of institutionalization of revolutionary movements in situations of democratic transitions in the Middle East and North Africa. AST’s failure to become a leading player of the Tunisian political transition is a direct consequence of its strategic confrontation with other Islamist and secularized players seeking to impose a new identity on the Tunisian state and society. On closer inspection, the origins of this confrontation can be traced to the intestine struggles within AST, between different ideological trends, and between the leadership and the base to define the identity and practices of the movement.