CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2021
| Author | Gigauri, Sandro |
|---|---|
| Title | European but not quite: Tracing the Potentiality of Everyday Resistance through Georgian Political Discourse |
| Summary | The study traces the discursive ambivalence characteristic of the Georgian political elite, which publicly advances the ‘solid European aspirations’ narrative but simultaneously opts for the modification/re-interpretation of the European standards at the local level. In contrast to the existing critical statebuilding literature, which examines this conundrum using the traditional binary understandings of power and resistance, this research contends their interconnected nature. By building a novel theoretical framework based on the potentiality of the local counter-conducts, it underscores the importance of dimensions such as context, temporality, and spatiality. Accordingly, the research aims to understand the prevalent European enthusiasm of Georgia through intermingled power-resistance dynamics and provides a detailed contextual examination of the specific patterns present in the Georgian elite discourse. The research identifies three discursive practices, by which the Georgian side accommodates the ‘European rationalities’ but reflexively creates space for the expansion of the individual agency. These practices include exaggerated reform compliance, deployment of the local ownership rhetoric, and the advancement of the ‘Return to Europe’ narrative. |
| Supervisor | Kurowska, Xymena |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2021/gigauri_sandro.pdf |
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