Governing Islam and Security in Tajikistan and Beyond: the Emergence of Transnational Authoritarian Security Governance
Governing Islam and Security in Tajikistan and Beyond: The Emergence of Transnational Authoritarian Security Governance Submitted by Edward James Lemon to the University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Politics In August 2016 This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Signature: 1 2 Abstract Since 2002, the government of post-Soviet Tajikistan has deployed its security apparatus outside of the state’s territorial borders at least 49 times, intimidating, kidnapping and monitoring its citizens. I use the term transnational authoritarian security governance to refer to these border-spanning security practices. Although both secular and religious opponents to the government have been targeted, in this dissertation, I examine how the government of Tajikistan attempts to manage the threat from Islamic ‘extremism.’ I trace the emergence of the securitisation of Islam back to the Soviet Union, explore its consolidation in the years following independence in 1991, and how it has become operationalised in the form of transnational authoritarian security governance. I argue that the regulation of religious life in Tajikistan is based on an assertive form of secularism, which posits that religion is only safe if it is closely controlled by the state. In theorising transnational authoritarian security governance, I draw on the work of Michel Foucault.
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