Civil Society Activism during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Context of Tajikistan

Abstract

The activism related to the COVID-19 pandemic varies across different contexts. As elsewhere in the world, the COVID-19 crisis markedly disrupted the socio-political climate in Tajikistan as well. At the peak of the crisis the government was paralyzed, and its inability and pending responses to the pandemic provided a potential opportunity for civil society/communities at the grassroots level in different regions of Tajikistan to raise to the challenges and practice activism in ways particular to the context of Tajikistan. This thesis seeks to explore civil society activism during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in Tajikistan and argues whether new forms emerged and survived in post-pandemic period. Out of probably myriad small and large ways of civil society responses to COVID-19 pandemic, this thesis sticks to the analysis and evolution of chiefly three civic activistic practices, i.e. (a) spread of information (fighting against disinformation), (b) relief provision mobilization and (c) semi-advocacy initiatives that were pursued by the civil society during the critical moments of COVID-19 pandemic.

Based on the analysis of the content of a) online sources, including social media, newspapers, journals, websites of the local civil society organizations, and International non-Government Organizations (INGOs), during the pandemic months; and b) interviews with the key civil society actors, this research reaches a number of conclusions that the resilience of civil society during the COVID-19 pandemic inspired a huge confidence in the power of digital activism, strengthened different forms of community mobilization and increased state-civil society bargaining resembling advocacy of its kind. Digital activism, particularly, gained a good momentum during the pandemic crisis. Only benign form of civil society activism continued to exist in the post-pandemic period.