ABSTRACT
There is more to biography than the life of an individual. A life-story is not just one of an infinite number of possible monographs which add up to history. A historian who thinks so merely accumulates and never achieves any meaning. As Bourguiba’s own story illustrates, an individual playing a leading role in society cannot help but have an intellectual commitment to history, the collective memory of past dialogues and of the meaning of past social formations, and an intellectual commitment to value, the collective project for a meaningful society in the future. No longer had Tunisia either to cling to a moribund system or to defer respectfully to a France of unchallenged prestige. Generally speaking, relationships between religion and politics in the Arab world have varied throughout history. Religion has often been a force upholding the status quo, reinforcing the stability of society and enhancing political quietism – the “opium” of the masses.
