Virtual presentation: “Airport and Migration Infrastructure in Kutaisi”

By Dato Laghidze, Ilia State University and ARISC Fellow

Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2023

Time: 7:00-8:30PM Tbilisi Time / 10:00-11:30AM EDT

The talk will be held via Zoom. To register:  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtcumhqDMjGNP-IFR1YZExZr1aZKbgDyEe

Migration from the city of Kutaisi is relatively high and increases every year. Empty neighborhoods, lone houses, and a lack of young people represent the daily reality for Kutaisi. More than 1/3 of the population left Kutaisi since the end of the Soviet Union. After the creation of Kutaisi Airport and the mushrooming of budget airlines, the migration infrastructure expanded within the city. I conducted fieldwork in the city and airport to demonstrate how migration is facilitated, shaped, and organized in Kutaisi. In particular, I observed the role of the Kutaisi airport in organizing migration.

In 2013, Dato Laghidze graduated School of Law at Ilia State University 2013; from 2013 to 2016, he worked as a researcher at EMC; he co-founded the social movement ‘White Noise”; from 2016 until 2018, he was a master’s student at the Department of Nationalism Studies at Central European University (CEU); 2016-2018, he was a recipient of the Open Society Budapest Foundation scholarship between 2017-2018. He was awarded a study grant from the International Education Center. From 2019 until 2020, he worked in the Parliament of Georgia. Since 2020, he has been a Social and Cultural Anthropology doctoral student at Ilia State University. Since 2020 he has been a recipient of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. In 2021 he was an academic assistant at GIPA, and between 2022 and 2023, he was an Erasmus + exchange Ph.D. at Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt. Currently, he is working on his Ph.D. project, Kutaisi Airport: Globalization, Migration, and Infrastructure. His main interests are the anthropology of migration, infrastructure, and the processes of globalization as well as the anthropology of protest. Dato Laghidze is the recipient of an ARISC Small Grant. Funding for this fellowship is provided by ARISC General Funds and private donations.

This talk is organized as a part of the ARISC Event Series that showcases the work of ARISC fellows. ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, education, age, income, socio-economic status, or status as a covered veteran.

Airport and Migration Infrastructure in Kutaisi

Dato Laghidze

Ilia State University and ARISC Fellow

Tuesday, December 5, 2023

7:00-8:30PM Tbilisi Time / 10:00-11:30AM EDT

The talk will be held via Zoom. To register:  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtcumhqDMjGNP-IFR1YZExZr1aZKbgDyEe

Migration from the city of Kutaisi is relatively high and increases every year. Empty neighborhoods, lone houses, and a lack of young people represent the daily reality for Kutaisi. More than 1/3 of the population left Kutaisi since the end of the Soviet Union. After the creation of Kutaisi Airport and the mushrooming of budget airlines, the migration infrastructure expanded within the city. I conducted fieldwork in the city and airport to demonstrate how migration is facilitated, shaped, and organized in Kutaisi. In particular, I observed the role of the Kutaisi airport in organizing migration.

In 2013, Dato Laghidze graduated School of Law at Ilia State University 2013; from 2013 to 2016, he worked as a researcher at EMC; he co-founded the social movement ‘White Noise”; from 2016 until 2018, he was a master’s student at the Department of Nationalism Studies at Central European University (CEU); 2016-2018, he was a recipient of the Open Society Budapest Foundation scholarship between 2017-2018. He was awarded a study grant from the International Education Center. From 2019 until 2020, he worked in the Parliament of Georgia. Since 2020, he has been a Social and Cultural Anthropology doctoral student at Ilia State University. Since 2020 he has been a recipient of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. In 2021 he was an academic assistant at GIPA, and between 2022 and 2023, he was an Erasmus + exchange Ph.D. at Alpen-Adria University of Klagenfurt. Currently, he is working on his Ph.D. project, Kutaisi Airport: Globalization, Migration, and Infrastructure. His main interests are the anthropology of migration, infrastructure, and the processes of globalization as well as the anthropology of protest. Dato Laghidze is the recipient of an ARISC Small Grant. Funding for this fellowship is provided by ARISC General Funds and private donations.

This talk is organized as a part of the ARISC Event Series that showcases the work of ARISC fellows. ARISC does not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, sex, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, education, age, income, socio-economic status, or status as a covered veteran.