Social Movement Participation and Social Protests in Georgia

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Social Movement Participation and Social Protests in Georgia UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO Graduate School in Social and Political Sciences Dipartimento Scienze Sociali e Politiche Corso di Dottorato di ricerca in Sociologia-XXVI ciclo Social Movement Participation and Social Protests in Georgia A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PH.D) IN SOCIOLOGY By: Nino Zhghenti Supervisor: Paola Rebughini Abstract There is a long-lasting debate on reasons and causes of social movement participation. Scholars suggest different explanations from the perspective of one or another theory. However, the theoretical and empirical fact is that there is a dearth of sociological literature on systematic, integrated approach covering multiple factors from different levels of movement participation. To address this problem and contribute to the multifactored approach, the objective of this paper is to develop a Model of movement participation, which is based on and derived from the theoretical and empirical analysis. The Model is developed which further is examined in case study of Georgian social protests. In this way the generated and further developed Model is not only analyzed in context of the corresponding literature but also examined in a practical setting. Due to novelty of the study, qualitative approach has been applied. Overall, research proved theoretical and empirical application of the two Models. The first one is a General Model where external and internal factors are given in hierarchy. As for the second Model, it is a continuation of the General Model. Specifically, it focuses on one of the stages of the General Model – framing process. The later is the major focus of the paper. The study is an important contribution to the sociological literature on social movements’ participation. Page 2 of 148 Table of Contents 1. Introduction .....................................................................................................................................................................................4 PART I ......................................................................................................................................................................................................7 2. Model of Movement Participation ........................................................................................................................................7 2.1 Initial Model: Movement Participation Scheme (November Mobilization) ...........................................7 2.2 Literature Review .............................................................................................................................................................. 12 2.2.1 Resource Mobilization ............................................................................................................................................ 15 2.2.2 Political Opportunity ............................................................................................................................................... 20 2.2.3 Cultural Dimension: Frame Theory ................................................................................................................. 26 2.2.4 Multifactored Approach ........................................................................................................................................ 39 2.3 Model of Movement Participation ............................................................................................................................. 43 2.3.1 General model on movement participation ................................................................................................ 43 2.3.3 The Model on Hierarchical Scheme of Frames .......................................................................................... 48 2.4 Revised Model of Movement Participation .......................................................................................................... 54 PART II.................................................................................................................................................................................................. 56 3. Participation in Social Protests in Georgia ................................................................................................................... 56 3.1 Background Information on Social Protests (1995-2003) in Georgia ................................................... 58 3.1.1 Social Protests under the Soviet Rule ............................................................................................................. 58 3.1.2 Independent Georgia: Social, Political and Economic Situation ....................................................... 61 3.1.3 Shevardnadze’s Rule: Daily Life and Social Protests .............................................................................. 64 3.2 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................................................... 71 3.2.1 Size of Social Protests ............................................................................................................................................. 71 3.2.2 Models of Movement Participation.................................................................................................................. 72 3.2.3 Method ............................................................................................................................................................................ 73 3.2.4 Research Bias and its Solution ........................................................................................................................... 76 3.3 Results ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 77 3.3.1 Political System and Triggering Events ......................................................................................................... 77 3.3.2 Objective and Subjective Reasons and Causes........................................................................................... 79 3.3.3 Identified Political Frames and Counter Frames ...................................................................................... 84 3.3.4 Pro-/Against Movement Campaign (Organizers’ Perspective)...................................................... 105 3.3.5 Participation in Social Protests (Participants Perspectives)........................................................... 107 3.3.6 Frame Resonance ................................................................................................................................................... 113 3.4 Reasons and Causes of Small and Large Social Protests in Georgia, 2000-2003 ........................... 121 PART III ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 126 5. Model of Movement Participation: Theoretical and Empirical Application ............................................. 126 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................................. 133 7. References .................................................................................................................................................................................. 137 Page 3 of 148 1. Introduction There is a long-lasting debate on reasons and causes of social movement participation. Scholars suggest different explanations from the perspective of one or another theory. Proponents of political opportunity paradigm (Tarrow 1998, Meyer 2004, Finkel&Muller 1998) argue that major instigator of social movement emergence is political context and its features. Scholars of resource mobilization theory (McCarthy et al. 2001; Zald&McCarthy, 1979, 1980; Buechler 1999) focus on resources and rational calculations as the key determinants in joining social protests. At the same time the new experiences of protesting demonstrated the narrow focus and biased approach to the issue. This is when the new Models have brought the wave back to the other side of the range. Nowadays, an increasing number of studies not only pay attention to the role of cultural factors in social mobilization but also there are attempts to consider variables from different theories in one conceptual and/or analytical framework. Advocates for cultural factors, specifically proponents of frame theory (Benford 2000, Benford&Snow 2000), while describing the construction of new meanings and ideas clearly ignore context of the mobilization. To add to this, analytical concepts of frame theory at much extant is limited to theoretical analysis (Scheufele 2004). A number of components in the theory are seen problematic when it comes to practical application. On the other hand, political process theory suggests one of the most systematic and consistent approaches where three different components - political opportunities, indigenous organization and cognitive liberation - constitute to one outcome (McAdam et al. 2001, McAdam 1982). However, even among its advocates, one can find strong preferences to the one or the other components, which bring us, back to the same single-paradigm approach.
Recommended publications
  • Two Basic Points in Georgian-German Relations
    Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute for European Studies Two Basic Points in Georgian-German Relations Giorgi Meskhi Student of Master’s Program in European Studies Supervisor: Professor Sergi Kapanadze Tbilisi 8 July 2011 1 Table of Contents I Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………3 II Preliminary Guidelines and Methodological Explanations …………………..6 III The Declaration of Independence ...................................................................11 1 Preliminary Period ...............................................................................................11 2 Independence as ‘the only way out’ ....................................................................16 3 After Independence............................................................................................ .21 IV The Restoration of Independence ...................................................................28 1 Way towards the Restoration of Independence....................................................28 2 Reunification of Germany ....................................................................................32 3 Between Independence and Reunification ..........................................................35 V Theoretical explanations …………………………………………………………...39 1 Political Realism is the Answer ………………………………………………………39 2 Political Realism is not always the Answer …………………………………………42 3 General Theoretical Explanations …………………………………………………...43 VI Conclusions ………………………………………………………………………….46 Bibliography ……………………………………………………………………………..48
    [Show full text]
  • Social Disaster in Mudslide Is Result of Capitalist Rule
    AUSTRALIA $1.50 · CANADA $1.50 · FRANCE 1.00 EURO · NEW ZEALAND $1.50 · UK £.50 · U.S. $1.00 INSIDE See revolutionary Cuba for yourself! Join May Day International Brigade — PAGE 9 A SOCIALIST NEWSWEEKLY PUBLISHED IN THE INTERESTS OF WORKING PEOPLE Vol. 82/no. 4 January 29, 2018 ‘Militant’ wins Social disaster in mudslide Iran: Workers overturn of is result of capitalist rule discontent is Florida prison driven by war, ban — again economic crisis BY SETH GALINSKY BY TERRY EVANS The Florida prison system’s Litera- The working-class discontent fu- ture Review Committee says that the eling protests that swept Iran begin- impoundment of the Dec. 18 issue of ning Dec. 28 was driven by workers’ the Militant was a “mistake” and has response to growing economic hard- been reversed. Officials at the Florida ship, continuing restrictions on po- State Prison in Raiford banned the is- litical rights, widening class divisions sue because of the article “Join Fight and the toll on working people of Teh- to Overturn Ban Against ‘Militant’!” ran’s wars across the region. which reported on the Militant’s suc- Above, Radio Sancti Spíritus; inset, Andy Holzman/SCNG Iran’s counterrevolutionary clerical cessful efforts to stop censorship of Above, Sept. 2016, revolutionary government rulers have no intention of giving up the paper. mobilized workers in Yaguajay, Cuba, to prepare political power or the military interven- Officials at the Raiford prison for Hurricane Irma. Inset, Skylar Fahlman tries tions that have expanded their reach to protect her home by herself in Ventura, Calif., failed to inform the Militant of the im- surrounded by Thomas Fire.
    [Show full text]
  • 68Th Congress
    Sixty-Eight Congress March 4, 1923 – March 4, 1925 Administration of Warren G. Harding/First Administration of Calvin Coolidge* *Calvin Coolidge succeeds Warren Harding as the 30th President following Harding’s death on Aug. 2, 1923 in San Francisco Historical Background ............................................................................................................. 1 War or Peace? ............................................................................................................................. 3 Economic Trends and Conditions ....................................................................................... 5 Landmark U.S. Supreme Court Decisions ........................................................................ 6 1923 Events ................................................................................................................................. 6 President Warren G. 1924 Events ................................................................................................................................. 7 Harding Major Acts ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Historical Background The continued economic troubles afflicting the nation had significant consequences for President Warren G. Harding’s Republican Party in the midterm elections of 1922. Though they managed to maintain their majorities in both houses of Congress, it was by the thinnest of margins. In the House, the Republican majority
    [Show full text]
  • Georgia (Country)
    Georgia (country) This article is about the country. For the U.S. state, brief Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. see Georgia (U.S. state). For other uses, see Georgia Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council (disambiguation). of Europe, and the GUAM Organization for Democracy and Economic Development. It contains two de facto in- Coordinates: 42°00′N 43°30′E / 42.000°N 43.500°E dependent regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Georgia ( i/ˈdʒɔːrdʒə/; Georgian: საქართველო, tr. gained limited international recognition after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Georgia and a major part of the Sakartvelo, IPA: [sɑkʰɑrtʰvɛlɔ]) is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads international community consider the regions to be part of Georgia’s sovereign territory under Russian military of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to [7] the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the occupation. south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi. Geor- gia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres (26,911 1 Etymology sq mi), and its 2016 population is about 3.72 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the Main article: Name of Georgia (country) government elected through a representative democracy. “Georgia” probably stems from the Persian designation During the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The king- doms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century. A unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries.
    [Show full text]
  • Democratic Transition Guide
    MEMORY OF NATIONS Democratic Transition Guide [ The Georgian Experience ] CONTENTS AUTHORS TRANSFORMATION OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM . 3 LEVAN AVALISHVILI Historian and Programs Director and Co-founder of the In- DISMANTLING THE STATE SECURITY stitute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), APPARATUS ........................... 8 Tbilisi. Researcher of Soviet Studies and author of several research papers on Soviet history. REGIME ARCHIVES ...................... 12 DAVID JISHKARIANI LUSTRATION .......................... 19 Historian and Co-Founder, Member of the Board, and Re- searcher of the Soviet Past Research Laboratory (SovLab), INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION Tbilisi. Visiting Lecturer at the School of Humanities and OF THE CRIMES OF THE REGIME ........... 28 Social Sciences, Caucasus University, Tbilisi. REHABILITATION OF VICTIMS .............. 31 IRAKLI KHVADAGIANI Historian, Researcher and Member of the Board of the Soviet EDUCATION AND PRESERVATION OF SITES Past Research Laboratory (SovLab), Tbilisi. Author of a num- OF CONSCIENCE ........................ 37 ber of publications on Soviet totalitarian past in Georgia. TIMELINE OF THE MAJOR EVENTS .......... 40 GIORGI KldIASHVILI Historian, Founding Member, and Executive Director of SOURCES USED AND FURTHER READING ..... 41 the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Tbilisi. Professional Archive Researcher working in the history archives of Georgia and abroad. GHIA NODIA Professor of Politics, and Director of the International School of Caucasus Studies in Ilia State University, Tbilisi. Founder and Chairman of the Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democ- racy and Development (CIPDD), an independent public policy think tank in Tbilisi. Former Minister for Education and Science of Georgia (2008). ANTON VACHARADZE Historian, Archives and Soviet Studies Direction Head at the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), Tbilisi.
    [Show full text]
  • Holding Libya Together: Security Challenges After Qadhafi
    HOLDING LIBYA TOGETHER: SECURITY CHALLENGES AFTER QADHAFI Middle East/North Africa Report N°115 – 14 December 2011 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................... i I. INTRODUCTION: THE ROAD TO POST-QADHAFI LIBYA ................................ 1 II. THE ORIGINS OF SECURITY FRAGMENTATION ............................................... 6 A. WHO SPEAKS FOR LIBYA ? ........................................................................................................... 6 1. Regional divisions ........................................................................................................................ 8 2. The question of Islamism ............................................................................................................. 9 3. Old versus new order ................................................................................................................. 13 B. THE QUESTION OF GOVERNMENT CAPACITY ............................................................................. 15 III. SECURITY FRAGMENTATION .............................................................................. 18 A. WHO ’S WHO ? ............................................................................................................................ 19 B. A TALE OF COMPETING NARRATIVES ........................................................................................ 23 C. THE CONSEQUENCES OF SECURITY FRAGMENTATION ..............................................................
    [Show full text]
  • October 1943
    ROYAL DANISH MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE MUSEUM OF DANISH RESISTANCE 1940-1945 OCTOBER 1943 THE RESCUE OF THE DANISH JEWS FroM ANNIHILATION THERKEL STRÆDE is professor of contemporary history at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, specializing in World War II and Holocaust studies. His exhibition “Denmark in October 1943: The Rescue of the Jews from Annihilation”, prepared for the Museum of Danish Resistance 1940-45, has been seen by 500,000 people in 30 countries since 1993. He has published on 20th century history, the Nazi concentration camps and anti-Semitism; numerous contributions to the Danish National Encyclopedia and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos. “Congressional Citation” award by the US House of Representa- tives 2001. Front page photo: This fishing boat took 15 Jews including 5 children on a ten hour trip from southern Denmark to Sweden, arriving only after daybreak. One of very few authentic photos from the Oct.’43 rescue operation. October 1943 The final solution’ a halt. In September, the Germans decide ‘The final solution of the Jewish question’ to strike against the Jews. An action to -- such was the Nazi term for the geno- deport them to German annihilation cide which from 1941 to 1945 cost the camps is unleashed on the night of Octo- lives of more than half of the ten million ber 1st/2nd. Jews in German-controlled Europe. The majority of the Danish Jews Lists of the Jewish population, coun- manage to slip away from the German try for country, are among the extant police, though.
    [Show full text]
  • 12 Nations.Txt 3/25/2010 the Most Famous Ruler of This Country Won The
    12_Nations.txt 3/25/2010 The most famous ruler of this country won the Battle of Velbuzd in 1330 and married a princess of the nation defeated there, Helen. Theodore Metochites arranged the marriage of the five-year-old princess Simonis to one ruler of this country. One ruler of this country changed his title after capturing Serres, and a despot of Serres, John Ugljesa (oog-lye- sha), joined his brother in defeat at the battle of Chernomen. That leader, Vukashin, had a son who died at the battle of Rovine while allied with Mircea (meer-chuh) the Old of Wallachia. The most famous ruler of this land had the sobriquet "Silni," promulgated the Zakonik and allied with the Byzantine pretender John Cantacuzenus before conquering Albania and Macedonia. That king was succeeded by his son Urosh, and himself succeeded his father Milutin. Famously ruled by Stefan Dushan, under prince Lazar Hrebeljanovic it would suffer defeat by the Ottomans at the field of Kosovo. FTP, name this country whose modern day capital is Belgrade. Answer: Serbia (08Terrapin) This kingdom broke the treaty of Tudilen when its king James I conquered Caudete and Villena. This kingdom was founded by the son of Sancho the Great, Ramiro I, who added to it the counties of Sobrarbe and Ribagorza. In 1591, Felipe II invaded this kingdom so as to suppress a revolt there. Alfonso V of this kingdom conquered Naples and Sardinia in the 15th century, and Alfonso I conquered Zaragoza, which became its capital. Its fueros were abolished by the Nueva Planta decrees of Philip V, as punishment for siding with Charles VI in the War of the Spanish Succession.
    [Show full text]
  • Weer-Independence.Pdf
    Volume IX/2019 John S. Micgiel, Pawel Kowal – Wstep ................................................ 5 Boguslaw Winid “The Role and Activities of the Eastern European Group within the United Nations System” ............................................................... 7 Matthew Rhodes “NATO’s 2018 Brussels Summit: A View from the United States” .... 13 Z. Anthony Kruszewski “The U. S. Diplomatic and Humanitarian Impact Supporting 1918 Re-Emerging Poland: House, Lord and Hoover” .................................. 17 Magda Stroinska “National Independence versus Societal Trauma: Can a Nation Enslaved by its Past be Independent?” ................................................ 27 Alfonsas Eidintas “From a Common to a National State(s) and the Lithuanian-Polish Dispute” ............................................................................... 39 Stefan Kawalec “Introduction to the Round Table on Building a Modern and Robust International Board: Egidijus Aleksandravičius | Vytautas Magnus University Banking System: Poland’s Experience after 1989” ..................................... 53 Stefano Bianchini | University of Bologna Miroslav Hroch | Charles University Hubert A. Janiszewski “The Privatisation of the Polish Banking Sector” ................ 59 Yaroslav Hrytsak | Ukrainian Catholic University Andreas Kappeler | University of Vienna Zbigniew Kruszewski | University of Texas, El Paso Marcin Wakar “The Rebirth of Polishness in the Baltic States as a Result of the Crisis Jan Kubik | Rutgers University and the Collapse of the USSR:
    [Show full text]
  • The Internationalist June2000
    January-February 2001 No.9 $2 Internationalist Defend the Palestinian People! For an Arab/Hebrew Workers Republic in a Socialist Federation of the Near East! Zionism, Imperialism and Anti-Semitism ........... 24 Arab/Hebrew Workers' Struggles Before the Birth of Israel. ... 38 Bourgeois Election Fiasco U.S.A. .... 3 Mexico: Death Agony of PRI Regime .. 58 2 The Internationalist June2000 In this issue ... Mexico: The UNAM Bourgeois Election Fiasco U.S.A .......... 3 Strike and the Fight for Workers 1876 ·························································· 8 Revolution Workers Revolution Will Avenge March 2000 US$3 Sankofa! Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! .... 12 For almost a year, tens of thousands of students Defend the Palestinian People! occupied the largest university in Latin America, For an Arab/Hebrew Workers Repub­ facing repression by both lic in a Socialist Federation of the the PRI government and Near East ............................................ 16 the PRO opposition. This 64-page special supplement tells the story Zionism. Imperialism and of the strike and Anti-Semitism ................................. ... 24 documents the intervention of the Grupo Zionist Complicity in the Destruction I nternacionalista. of Hungarian Jewry .......................... 30 Order from/make checks payable to: Mundial Publications, Box 3321 , Church Street Station, New York, NY 10008, U.S.A. Zionist Terror and the "lngathering" of.Iraqi Jews ...................................... 36 Visit the Leagueforthe Fourth International/ Arab/Hebrew Workers' Struggles Internationalist Group on the Internet Before the Birth of Israel .................. 38 http://www. international ist.org Now available on our site: "Anti-Imperialist United Front" ... with • Founding Statement of the the Mufti of Jerusalem .............. ........ 43 Internationalist Group • Declaration of the League for the Fourth International Egypt: Stalinism Against • Articles from The Internationalist Arab Workers' Struggles .................
    [Show full text]
  • 31-Kakabadze-Polyphonic-Country
    Polyphonic Country: A Peace Zone in Georgia and South Caucasus Irakli Zurab Kakabadze CORNELL UNIVERSITY REPPY INSTITUTE OCCASIONAL PAPER #31 ©December 2010 © 2010 Cornell University Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies. All rights reserved. ISSN 1075-4857 Polyphonic Country: A Peace Zone in Georgia and South Caucasus Irakli Zurab Kakabadze Established as the Peace Studies Program at Cornell in 1970, the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies is an interdisciplinary program concerned with problems of peace and war, arms control and disarmament, and more generally, instances of collective violence. Its broad objectives are to support graduate and post-doctoral study, research, teaching and cross-campus interactions in these fields. Copies of some older Occasional Papers may be ordered from: Reppy Institute 130 Uris Hall Cornell University Ithaca, NY 14853-7601 TABLE OF CONTENTS Background of Peace Zone proposals in Georgia .....................................1 Zones of Peace ................................................................2 Definition ..............................................................2 History of Zones of Peace .................................................3 Conflicts in South Caucasus .....................................................6 A Broader Regional and Historical Perspective ................................6 Context of Georgia, Abkhazia, South Ossetia.................................11 Possible Problem Solving in Georgian-Russian-Separatist Conflicts...............15
    [Show full text]
  • Cultural Emancipation and Identity Formation in Georgia and Ukraine Throughout the XX and XXI Century
    Department of Political Science Course of Political Sociology Cultural emancipation and identity formation in Georgia and Ukraine throughout the XX and XXI century Prof. Michele Sorice Davide Gobbicchi ID 087032 Supervisor Candidate Academic Year 2019/2020 Index Introduction……………………………………………………… pg. 4 I.I History of Georgia………………………………………….. pg. 7 I.II History of Ukraine………………………………………… pg. 13 II.I Independent Georgia……………………………………… pg. 26 Georgian Organized crime……………………………………………. pg. 26 The Rose Revolution…………………………………………………. pg. 29 II.II Independent Ukraine……………………………………… pg. 32 Euromaidan…………………………………………………………… pg. 35 III.I Nationalism in the USSR – A Theoretical framework…… pg. 38 III.II Local nationalist policies in the USSR…………………. pg. 41 III.III National identity formation in the post-USSR Era……... pg. 48 Modern Georgian identity…………………………………………….. pg. 49 Modern Ukrainian identity……………………………………………. pg. 51 IV.I Ethnic conflict in Georgia……………………………….... pg. 54 The Abkhazia-Georgian Conflict…………………………….……….. pg. 56 The Georgian-Ossetian Conflict……………………………..……….. pg. 62 IV.II Ethnic conflict in Ukraine………………………………… pg. 65 The annexation of Crimea by the R.F. and the War in the Donbass…. pg. 66 Conclusion……………………………………………………… pg. 72 Bibliography………………………………….………………… pg. 73 INTRODUCTION Article 49 of the Treaty on the European Union states that countries such as Georgia, Moldova and Belarus (like any other European state) have a “European perspective”, and may therefore apply to become members of the Union; in this context, a serious study on the future of the European Union should include a deep analysis of such countries, which in the short-run can still be regarded as “far and foreign” but in the long-run will surely come into play as a source of both internal European conflict (among different EU members with different views regarding their access to membership) and external EU-Russia conflict (considering that many European Union candidates are ex-soviet republics, such as Moldova or Ukraine, still under heavy Russian Influence).
    [Show full text]