Manufacturing Dissent Since 1996
New interviews throughout the week

How Uzbeks turned a hashtag against a dictatorship.

859sarahkendzior

There's sort of an anti-justice system, where a lot of punishment and interrogation tactics are arbitrary. You never know if you're going to become the unfortunate victim of some kind of persecution by the state, and that keeps people on edge. Which is one of the reasons why people are so afraid to speak out. The fact that some are doing so now is really remarkable.

Journalist Sarah Kendzior profiles the rise of the Uzbek social media movement Qorqmaymiz (We are not afraid) and explains the danger the group faces from a repressive state with an arbitrary justice system and roots in Soviet-era surveillance tactics.

Sarah is author of the Foreign Policy article ‘We Are Not Afraid’ Inside an Uzbek Internet rebellion.

Interview transcript via Antidote Zine

Share Tweet Send

 

Sarahkendziorbio
Guest

Sarah Kendzior

Sarah Kendzior is a St. Louis-based writer, anthropologist and researcher.

sarahkendzior.com

 

Related Interviews
Nojang Khatami
Nov 9 2022
Uprising in tehran  keshavarz boulvard september 2022  2  cropped for itn

Democracy in Iran / Nojang Khatami

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
May 31 2022
Stamp of afghanistan   1934   colnect 652069   ruins at balkh   mauve

Breaking Afghanistan

More with Sarah Kendzior