Between Pollution and Resistance: Gabes at the Mercy of Tunisia’s Development Model
Abstract
This study examines the impact of national economic and financial policies on the local realities of marginalized regions in Tunisia, with a particular focus on the governorate of Gabès as a case study. For more than a decade, Tunisia has been experiencing a critical phase on the economic, social, and environmental levels, as the accumulation of public debt and the implementation of austerity policies have led to widening spatial and social inequalities, the deterioration of basic public services, and the deepening of the effects of a development model based on extractive industries. In Gabès, the heavy reliance on chemical and phosphate industries has resulted in severe air, water, and soil pollution, causing serious health problems among residents—often leading to death—alongside a general decline in public health and the loss of opportunities for sustainable development.
The study adopts an analytical approach that combines a review of national economic policies with an analysis of environmental and social data, alongside listening to the experiences of environmental activists, with the aim of documenting everyday practices of popular resistance and community-based demands. The findings show that local residents articulate specific demands, including the closure of unlicensed landfills, the dismantling of polluting industrial facilities, stricter monitoring of environmental emissions, improvements in water and soil quality, and the strengthening of community participation in environmental decision-making. The study also highlights the central role of women and mothers in mobilizing local movements and transforming them into sustained, practice-based forms of resistance.
The study concludes that Gabès represents a living example of the failure of the Tunisian development model based on extractive industries, and that local environmental awareness has evolved into a continuous tool of resistance against economic and social marginalization. The findings underscore the urgent need to rethink the relationship between the state and local communities, and to ensure economic development that respects citizens’ rights and upholds environmental and social justice.
Keywords: Gabès; extractivism; economic policies; popular resistance; environmental justice