Performativity and Policing Dissent: Patronage and Digital Power in Pakistan’s Socio-Political Landscape in Light of Goffman’s Dramaturgy

Abstract

This paper examines how the performativity of patronage is mobilized and weaponized using the case study of pietism and impiety in Pakistan across pre-digital and digital contexts. The concept of performativity in the context of doctrinal values has been discussed using the pre- and post-Zia-ul-Haq regimes. Using a longitudinal case study, we have compared patterns of patronage and legitimization of fanatic elements before the rise of digital media with their contemporary online manifestations. Drawing on Erving Goffman’s Dramaturgical analysis, the study interprets these dynamics as strategic performances in which actors curate devotional identities to gain legitimacy, authority, and influence. Our inferences reveal that while pre-digital performances relied on institutional and social networks, digital platforms amplify visibility, accelerate validation, and intensify exclusionary narratives. Front-stage performances of pietism are increasingly decoupled from back-stage practices, enabling the manipulation of moral authority at scale. These have been explained using discourse analysis, using speeches and events to portray the actions played out by the political actors. The shift to pietism within politics and society has significant implications for the construction of social reality, particularly in reinforcing stigma and marginalization. By situating micro-sociological insights within broader political and technological transformations, our research contributes to interdisciplinary debates on dogma, digital media, and power, highlighting how performative piety evolves as both a social strategy and a tool of ideological control.