Host Institution/Location:
Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Partner Institutions:
Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
the Institute for Social and Cultural Research, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Leibniz Institute for Regional Geography, Leipzig, Germany
ILCEA4, University of Grenoble Alpes, France
ZOIS, Berlin, Germany
The Leibniz Science Campus “Eastern Europe – Global Area” (EEGA, Leipzig, Germany)
Organisers:
Dr. Mariam Darchiashvili
Dr. Olga Bronnikova
Dr. Sofia Gavrilova
Dear colleagues, we are happy to invite contributions to our first workshop ‘Approaching the exodus: tensions and cooperation in the emerging communities in South Caucasus after the start of the full-scale invasion’, which aims to focus on the way the after war migration shapes the society, politics and places in Tbilisi mainly, but also in other cities in Georgia and in Armenia, and Central Asia. Georgia, alongside Armenia and some other Central Asian republics, has become the country which experienced several waves of emigration from Russia, and at the same time hosted a number of refugees from Ukraine, therefore forming unique communities. So far existing scholarly approaches mostly focus on the sociology of the Russian emigration or of the Ukrainian exile, leaving aside perception and changes in the receiving communities and the co-existing of various communities. With the series of workshops we aim to open up the conversation about the societal changes in the cities, which experienced several waves of the Russian migrants and the Ukrainian refugees, and bring together the researchers who have been focusing on various aspects of the state of the societies in these countries since the beginning of the war. We are looking at the dynamics in the emerging new migrant communities, and their local and regional impact. We also aim to explore the role of media in generating and co-producing the political cultures, and in developing and framing the new migrant communities. Apart from that, we invite the representatives of the Georgian, Armenian, Ukrainian and Russian exiled NGOs, journalists and activists, who have been actively working during the last year in Georgia or Armenia.
The questions that we aim to address are, but not limited to:
1. Multiplicity of forms of politics in the Russian exile in Tbilisi and its connections with Ukrainian communities. We aim to review the different initiatives and collective actions related to the war in Ukraine (opposing the war or mitigating the consequences of the war as helping refugees from Ukraine, organizing humanitarian help to Ukraine, coordinating fundraising for Ukraine, etc) launched, on the one hand, by Russian and Ukrainian exiles together or separately in Georgia and Armenia, and on the other hand, by the host societies, concerned with providing assistance to Ukrainian refugees or humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
2. The (co-) production of new places and practices in the emerging communities by individual and collective actions, and by media.
3. The (co-) existence of national identities and historical narratives. Approaching the new emerging (neo)imperial and (neo)colonial constellations.
4. The formation of new political cultures and political forms of action in exile.
5. The comparative perspective of the changes and challenges in the cities in Georgia, Armenia and Central Asian republics.
The workshop aims to take place in person in Tbilisi, on 11-12 November, and will consist of working sessions, methodological sessions, and a keynote.
For application please send a short abstract of the proposed talk (300 words), and short bio (250 words) to exodusworkshopsc@gmail.com by the 1st of August. We aim to notify the selected participants by the 10th of September. Please note that the project is able to cover the travel grants for a limited number of participants, please state in the application if you would like to be considered for a travel grant.