Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi and Arabic Constitutionalism

Peter Hill

doi:10.1163/9789004734661_004

Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi and Arabic Constitutionalism

Peter Hill^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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Abstract

This chapter examines a landmark of Arabic writing on constitutionalism and liberalism, published by the Tunisian statesman Khayr al-Din in 1868. It places this text in the context of developing Arabic-language writing on constitutions, and of the creation of quasi-constitutions within and beyond the Ottoman empire through the nineteenth century. It argues for the novelty of Khayr al-Din's posing of the problem of restraints on absolute power in Arabic, through the notion of 'despotism' (istibdad), as well as for similarities between his project and those of European bourgeois liberals.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Constitutionalism Unbound
Subtitle of host publication	Constitutional Dynamics and Political Transformation in the Ottoman and Qajar Lands in the Long Nineteenth Century
Editors	Denis Hermann, Erda Kaynar
Place of Publication	Leiden, Netherlands
Publisher	Brill
Chapter	2
Pages	54–84
Number of pages	21
ISBN (Electronic)	9789004734661
ISBN (Print)	9789004734654
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004734661_004
Publication status	Published - 28 Jul 2025

Publication series

Name	Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia
Publisher	Brill
ISSN (Electronic)	1385-3376

Access to Document

10.1163/9789004734661_004

3.Hill_24-05-2024Accepted author manuscript, 344 KB

https://brill.com/display/title/72557

Cite this

Hill, P. (2025). Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi and Arabic Constitutionalism. In D. Hermann, & E. Kaynar (Eds.), Constitutionalism Unbound: Constitutional Dynamics and Political Transformation in the Ottoman and Qajar Lands in the Long Nineteenth Century (pp. 54–84). (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004734661_004

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Hill, P 2025, Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi and Arabic Constitutionalism. in D Hermann & E Kaynar (eds), Constitutionalism Unbound: Constitutional Dynamics and Political Transformation in the Ottoman and Qajar Lands in the Long Nineteenth Century. Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia, Brill, Leiden, Netherlands, pp. 54–84. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004734661_004

Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi and Arabic Constitutionalism. / Hill, Peter.
Constitutionalism Unbound: Constitutional Dynamics and Political Transformation in the Ottoman and Qajar Lands in the Long Nineteenth Century. ed. / Denis Hermann; Erda Kaynar. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill, 2025. p. 54–84 (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › peer-review

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AB - This chapter examines a landmark of Arabic writing on constitutionalism and liberalism, published by the Tunisian statesman Khayr al-Din in 1868. It places this text in the context of developing Arabic-language writing on constitutions, and of the creation of quasi-constitutions within and beyond the Ottoman empire through the nineteenth century. It argues for the novelty of Khayr al-Din's posing of the problem of restraints on absolute power in Arabic, through the notion of 'despotism' (istibdad), as well as for similarities between his project and those of European bourgeois liberals.

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Hill P. Khayr al-Din al-Tunisi and Arabic Constitutionalism. In Hermann D, Kaynar E, editors, Constitutionalism Unbound: Constitutional Dynamics and Political Transformation in the Ottoman and Qajar Lands in the Long Nineteenth Century. Leiden, Netherlands: Brill. 2025. p. 54–84. (Social, Economic and Political Studies of the Middle East and Asia). doi: 10.1163/9789004734661_004