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Sources for Western Society: Printed Page 501

30-4 | Arab Spring
A Tunisian Woman Casts Her Vote (2011)

In 2011, revolution in Tunisia triggered a chain reaction that led to the fall of the Mubarak regime in Egypt and the outbreak of civil war in Syria. Dubbed the “Arab Spring,” a term that recalled prodemocracy uprisings in eastern Europe decades earlier, the events gave hope to many that the era of authoritarian government in North Africa and the Middle East would someday come to an end. In this photograph taken in October 2011, a Tunisian woman casts her vote in the elections that followed the overthrow of the Tunisian dictatorship.

image

Ezequiel Scagnetti / Invision / Aurora Photos.

READING QUESTIONS

  1. Question

    Why might the photographer have chosen to represent the Tunisian election with an image of a woman voting? What implications might this image have had for Western viewers?

  2. Question

    In your opinion, what are the long-term implications of the Arab Spring for the political development of the Islamic world?