CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Mikheil Akhobadze |
|---|---|
| Title | Russia's Soft Power And The Emergence Of Far-Right Politics In Post-Soviet Georgia |
| Summary | The thesis is an exploration of the emergence of far-right groups in Georgia and the influence exerted by the Kremlin over these processes through implementing soft power policies. The dramatic upsurge of nationalism was evident in the country shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Empire which resulted in internal ethnic conflicts. Radical groups – mostly with religious affiliations – have been employing violence over the years, however, far-right groups as such have become active since 2012. Identifying every ultra-nationalist movement in Georgia is quite challenging given that, a significant portion of far-right actors are informal and unstructured groups operating through social media platforms. Given the limitation indicated above, the thesis focuses on the far-right groups that have “stolen the spotlight” and managed to transform into full-fledged political parties in parallel to orchestrating large-scale violent rallies and counterdemonstrations as well as perpetrating hate crimes. Throughout the years the violence has been employed in the name of “saving” the nation and “preserving” Georgian and Christian – “conservative” – values. It is noteworthy that, these discourses fit into the Kremlin’s agenda, given that religion is a significant feature of Russia’s soft power. Violent counterdemonstrations, an attack on a vegan café with sausages, the murder of human rights defender Vitaly Safarov – a citizen of Georgia with Jewish-Yazidi roots, and violent clashes against the queer community, all these cases clearly indicate that far-right groups pose a threat to the society. |
| Supervisor | Daniel Bochsler |
| Department | Nationalism Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/akhobadze_mikheil.pdf |
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