Ruprecht-Karls Universität Heidelberg/EHESS Paris History Department Master’s Thesis: Deutsch-Französischer Masterstudiengang Geschichte Suprevisor: Katja Patzel-Mattern, Hamit Bozarslan, Dominik Schaller, Author: Nils Lukacs Exposé Master’s Thesis “The Tunisian Revolution - Student’s Perspective and Role in its Historical Context ” Mister President You told me to speak without fear But I know I can just get slapped I see too much injustice So I decided to send this message Even though people told me I will face death But until when the Tunisians are going to live in dreams? Where is the right to free speech? Just words – Extract of President of the Republic (Rais Lebled) by Tunisian rapper Hamada Ben Amor (alias El Général), published on Youtube in December 2010 (cited in Filiu 2011: 150). 1. Introduction The research project The Tunisian Revolution - The Student’s Perspective and Role in its Historical Context (original title: Tunesische Revolution - Perspektiven und Rolle tunesischer Studenten im historischen Kontext) aims to put a personal perspective on the complexity of ideas surrounding the Arab Revolution in Tunisia. The goal is to gain access to the subjective perception of a defined group of the Tunisian society and analyse the ideas they had in mind for the revolution, the mechanisms of the protest movements and the well disputed notion of an ‘Internet Revolution’. The methodological approach is based on a number of interviews held with Tunisian students and the contextualisation of the information obtained within established historical narratives surrounding the revolution. This way, it is expected to gain access to the questions of a contemporary issue with the methods of the historical sciences. As the nature of this venture is based on dynamic discussions with Tunisian students, the outcome is highly dependent on the evaluation of the information obtained. The interviews, however, have been oriented on three lead questions that will serve as a structure for the analysis: The first is centred around the complexes of identity and ideology in order to situate the participants in the broader phenomenon; a second examines the interviewees’ personal participation in the events since December 2010; and a third approach is aimed to obtain information on networks and patterns of organisation during the protests special regard to the web based aspects of the revolution. 1