‘The Time of Wolves’: Political Denunciation and Panopticon Control in Tajikistan

This article investigates the practice of political denunciation in Tajikistan. As a mechanism of social and political control, denunciation relies on the active participation of citizens, thereby expanding the authoritarian state’s reach into individual lives while cultivating an atmosphere of fear and mutual suspicion. Scholars have documented the panopticon-style social control mechanisms deployed in Tajikistan by regarding the disciplinary power and biopower of counter-extremist measures in Tajikistan as an attempt to produce secular, docile citizen subjects who are resistant to extremist ideas. Recent accounts have provided evidence that political denunciation has become one of the mechanisms deployed to deter criticism and ensure compliance in a society where people internalize the possibility of being watched. In this environment, ordinary citizens are not only victims of a repressive apparatus but also agents in its enactment. Based on interviews with political exiles, this article will argue that denunciation practices contribute to the reinforcement of authoritarianism and panopticon-style social control mechanisms. This repressive environment, in which everyone can act as an agent of surveillance, leaves very little space for citizens to resist the authoritative power of the state and the community.