Meanings of the human rights concept: Tunisian activism in the 1970s

This article explores human rights activism in an authoritarian context of the Global South in the 1970s through the case of Tunisia, a decade considered by scholarship as the starting point for international human rights norm diffusion, including in the Arab region. It describes how two Tunisian solidarity groups and the Tunisian Human Rights League—considered the first independent human rights organization in the Arab World—used the concept. These organizations are considered catalyzers of the spread of human rights culture in Tunisia. The article argues that the use of human rights and references to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights did not entail that international human rights norms were a core concern. Other justice principles and ideologies prevailed in the 1970s. The article further showcases the complexity of human rights processes in the Global South. Understanding the 1970s necessitates exploring the groups that made use of the concept, the political spaces in which they operated, and the idea environments in which human rights became a part.