Théo Blanc
Associate Researcher
Théo Blanc is a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC-funded project MENA-PERC (Political Elites and Regime Change in the Middle East and North Africa) based at Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Pisa). He received a Ph.D in social and political sciences from the European University Institute (EUI, Florence) in June 2023. His doctoral dissertation addresses the genealogy of Salafi currents in Tunisia and their political trajectories before and after the 2010/11 revolution. From 2018 to 2022, he was associate researcher with the ERC project TARICA ‘Political and Socio-institutional Change in North Africa: Competition of Models and Diversity of Trajectories’. He received a M.A. in political science and Middle Eastern Studies from Science Po Grenoble.
Areas of expertise: Salafism, Islamism, Jihadism, political activism, party politics, Tunisia, Maghreb
Selected bibliography:
- Théo Blanc, “Categorizing Salafism With and Without Wiktorowicz: Grounded Reflections From Tunisia,” Journal of Political Ideologies (2023), DOI: 10.1080/13569317.2023.2215726
- Alia Gana, Ester Sigillò, and Théo Blanc, “Beyond Moderation: Strategic Pluralization in Tunisian Islamist Politics,” Middle East Law & Governance (2023), DOI: 10.1163/18763375-15020006
- Théo Blanc and Olivier Roy (eds). Salafism: Challenged by Radicalization? Violence, Politics, and the Advent of post-Salafism. European University Institute, Middle East Directions (2021), https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/72725.
- Théo Blanc, “Opportunity, Ideology and Salafi Pathways of Political Activism in Tunisia,” Third World Thematics: A TWQ Journal 5:3-6 (2021): 276-295. doi: 10.1080/23802014.2021.1965014.
- Fabio Merone, Théo Blanc, and Ester Sigillò, “The Evolution of Tunisian Salafism After the Revolution: From Lᾱ Maddhabiyya to Salafi-Malikism,” The International Journal of Middle East Studies 53: 3 (2021): 455-470. doi:10.1017/S0020743821000143.
- Théo Blanc, « Retour critique et perspectives futures quatre ans après la “spécialisation“ d’Ennahdha », Confluences Méditerranée n°114, 2020/3, doi: 10.3917/come.114.0067.
- Théo Blanc, « Ennahdha et les salafistes : la construction relationnelle de la « modération » », L’Année du Maghreb 22 (2020): 149-167, doi.org/10.4000/anneemaghreb.6411.
- Théo Blanc and Ester Sigillò, “Beyond the ‘Islamists vs. Secularists’ Cleavage: The Rise of New Challengers After The 2019 Tunisian Elections,” Policy Brief, 2019/27, Middle East Directions (MED), doi: 10.2870/142604.