Maria Josua

Justifications of Repression in Autocracies: An Empirical Analysis of Morocco and Tunisia, 2000–2010

Contemporary Politics | 2024


  • Abstract

    How do autocrats communicate about repression? Previous studies have analysed how autocratic officials justify the repression of large-scale protests to avoid backlash effects. However, we know much less about how everyday repression against dissidents and ordinary citizens is communicated and justified under authoritarianism. This paper is the first to systematically investigate how officials in autocracies justify, conceal, or deny repression employed by different state actors. It studies the communication of repression in two North African autocracies by analysing the novel Justifications of Repressive Incidents in Morocco and Tunisia Dataset (JuRI). The event dataset contains 439 instances of repression between 2000 and 2010 and disaggregates various dimensions of repression and its communication. The empirical analysis shows how the chosen forms of repression influence ensuing patterns of communication and justification. Studying the communication of repression helps us better understand the nexus of legitimation, judicial repression and political violence in autocracies.

    Journal

    Contemporary Politics

    Jahrgang/Band

    30

    Nummer

    1

    Seiten

    108-136

    The Soft-Handed Kingdom? Revisiting Repression in the Moroccan “Arab Spring”

    Konferenz | 08.09.2025 - 12.09.2025

    The Soft-Handed Kingdom? Revisiting Repression in the Moroccan “Arab Spring”

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen Organisation: Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft Dr. Maria Josua (Vortragende:r), Dr. Kressen Thyen (Vortragende:r)

    This paper disentangles the specific patterns of repression that was employed in Morocco during the 2011-12 protests, challenging the narrative of a benign and reform-based response to the Arab uprisings.

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025

    Konferenz | 08.09.2025 - 12.09.2025

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025

    Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen Organisation: Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft Dr. Maria Josua (Chair)

    The panel organized and chaired by Maria Josua challenged simplistic assumptions about Morocco by analyzing recent dynamics such as protest policing, shedding critical light on green development policies and the new social protection agenda, and the kingdom's increasingly assertive foreign policy.

    Communicating Repression in Autocracies: Theory and Findings

    Workshop | 23.10.2024 - 24.10.2024

    Communicating Repression in Autocracies: Theory and Findings

    Perceptions of State-Society Relations, MECAM, Tunis Dr. Maria Josua (Vortragende:r)

    At the workshop closing her DFG-funded project, Maria Josua presented the theoretical approach and results of her research, notably the conceptual and empirical contributions that were published in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics and in Contemporary Politics.

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