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

Communicating Repression: Studying Official Framing and Its Perception in Autocracies, GIGA, Hamburg Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

This novel event dataset contains information on 439 repressive incidents in Morocco and Tunisia from 2000-2010. It disaggregates various dimensions of repression and its justification. The JuRI dataset is based on a compilation of publicly available human rights reports.

https://doi.org/10.7802/2438

How do autocrats communicate everyday acts of repression? This paper introduces and analyses a novel dataset on justifications for incidents of repression in Morocco and Tunisia during the years 2000–2010, showing that the chosen forms thereof influence how officials subsequently talk about them.

In the WDR Zeitzeichen History Podcast, Dr. Maria Josua offers insights into the state of democracy in Tunisia since the 2010-11 revolution, analysing the transition process until the current repressive phase.

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

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, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Erlangen Organisers: 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.

Perceptions of State-Society Relations, MECAM, Tunis Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

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.

Communicating Repression: Studying Official Framing and Its Perception in Autocracies, GIGA, Hamburg Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Dr. Maria Josua (Organiser)

On 9–10 June 2022, a research workshop brought together scholars working on the nexus of legitimation, protest, and repression in autocracies. The workshop was held in the context of the DFG-funded research project “Justifying Repression in Authoritarian Regimes of the Arab World: Official Framing and Target Audiences."

ECPR Joint Sessions 2022, University of Edinburgh / hybrid Organisers: European Consortium for Political Research Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

At the ECPR Workshop she co-directed, Maria Josua presented results from her DFG-funded project on the communication of repressive acts in Morocco and Tunisia.

Communicating Repression: Studying Official Framing and Its Perception in Autocracies, GIGA, Hamburg Organisers: German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) Dr. Maria Josua (Speaker)

This novel event dataset contains information on 439 repressive incidents in Morocco and Tunisia from 2000-2010. It disaggregates various dimensions of repression and its justification. The JuRI dataset is based on a compilation of publicly available human rights reports.

https://doi.org/10.7802/2438

How do autocrats communicate everyday acts of repression? This paper introduces and analyses a novel dataset on justifications for incidents of repression in Morocco and Tunisia during the years 2000–2010, showing that the chosen forms thereof influence how officials subsequently talk about them.