GEORGIAN EUROPEANIZATION: AN IDEATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY YELDA KARADAĞ IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE PROGRAMME OF AREA STUDIES JANUARY 2019 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin GENÇÖZ Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Assist. Prof. Dr. Derya Göçer Akder Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Pınar Köksal (METU, ADM) Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata (METU, ADM) Prof. Dr. Taşansu Türker (Ankara Univ., SBKY) Assist. Prof. Dr. Derya Göçer Akder (METU, ARS) Assist. Prof. Dr. Gözde Yılmaz (Atılım Univ., IR) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name: Yelda Karadağ Signature: iii ABSTRACT GEORGIAN EUROPEANIZATION: AN IDEATIONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS Karadağ, Yelda PhD, Programme of Area Studies Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata January 2019, 317 pages This thesis explores the ‘multiple’ aspects of the Georgian Europeanization, which goes beyond the institutional integration and domestic change in accordance with the EU acquis between Georgia and the EU. This study unravels both normative/ideational and practical/institutional elements of the Europeanization path of Georgia from a social constructivist perspective. It argues that while the ideational dynamics of the Georgian Europeanization address various representations/articulations/references about how the ‘idea’ of Europe and ‘Georgian Europeanness’ are re/constructed in different ‘critical junctures’, the institutional aspect of Europeanization focuses on rather contemporary dimension with the institutional cooperation between the EU and Georgia, pertinent to legislative, administrative transformation/convergence to the Europe/EU. In order to analyze the Georgian Europeanization as a case study, this study focuses on the ‘ideational construction of Europe’, ‘Rose Revolution’, ‘Multiple Pathways to Europeanization’ and ‘the role of the EU as a Soft Power vis-à-vis the other international actors’. It is concluded that the Georgian Europeanization as a single case demonstrates indicators of a selective Europeanization process and without taking the post-Soviet transition problems into account, the Georgian Europeanization, both ideational/normative and institutional levels, could not be analyzed thoroughly. iv Keywords: Georgian Europeanization, Europeanization, Post-Soviet Transition, Social Constructivism, Georgia. v ÖZ GÜRCİSTAN’IN AVRUPALILAŞMASI: DÜŞÜNSEL VE KURUMSAL BİR ANALİZ Karadağ, Yelda Doktora, Bölge Çalışmaları Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata Ocak 2019, 317 sayfa Bu tezin amacı kurumsal bütünleşme ve AB müktesabatına uygun olarak yapılan iç değişikliklerin ötesine geçen Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşma sürecininin ‘çoklu’ yönlerini incelemektir. Bu çalışma, toplumsal inşacı yaklaşıma dayanarak Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşma sürecinde sahip olduğu normatif/düşünsel ve pratik/kurumsal dinamikleri ortaya çıkarmaktadır. Çalışma, bir yandan Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşma sürecinin ‘Avrupa fikrinin’ ve Gürcistan Avrupalılaşmasının farklı temsiller/ifadeler/referanslarının ‘kritik dönüm noktalarında’ nasıl (yeniden) inşa edildiğine ve bu süreçlerin düşünsel dinamiklerine değinmektedir. Öte yandan, Avrupalılaşmanın kurumsal yönüne odaklanarak, AB ile Gürcistan arasındaki yasal, idari dönüşüm/yakınlaşma kurumsal işbirliği çabalarını ele almaktadır. Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşmasını bir vaka analizi olarak inceleyen bu çalışma, ‘Avrupa’nın düşünsel inşası’, ‘Gül Devrimi’, ‘Çoklu Avrupalılaşma süreci’, ‘AB’nin diğer uluslararası aktörler bağlamında sahip olduğu yumuşak güç’, ‘gibi konulara odaklanmaktadır. Sonuç olarak, Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşma süreci ‘seçili’ (selective) bir Avrupalılaşma örneği olarak öne çıkmaktadır ve sovyet-Sonrası geçiş dönemi zorlukları göz önünde bulundurulmadan Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşma sürecinin hem düşünsel/normatif hem kurumsal dinamiklerini analiz etmek mümkün görünmemektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Gürcistan’ın Avrupalılaşması, Avrupalılaşma, Sovyet-Sonrası Geçiş Dönemi, Toplumsal İnşacı Yaklaşım, Gürcistan. vi DEDICATION To My Beloved Family vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the support of many people, only few of which can be acknowledged here. First, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ayata, for their guidance, insight, and encouragement at each and every step of my long journey of PhD. I also would like to thank to the members of the dissertation committee; Prof. Dr. Pınar Köksal, Prof. Dr. Taşansu Türker, Assist. Prof. Dr. Derya Göçer Akder and Assist. Prof. Dr. Gözde Yılmaz for their comments and contributions to the manuscript. It would have been very hard to write this dissertation without the support from Kakha Gogolashvili and Ivane Chkhikvadze. They were always welcoming and helpful during the different stages of my field research in Tbilisi. I am grateful to their contribution and insights. No proper words can express my gratefulness for the immense support and encouragement that many friends have provided during this journey. Zoltan Grünhut provided me immense academic as well as emotional support during the long days of writing. He shared his rich and refined knowledge on Europeanization with me. I would also like to thank Hazar Ege Gürsoy, who shared all the pleasure and difficulties of the field research in Tbilisi with me. No words would be enough to express my gratitude to them. My dear colleagues, but more importantly my beloved friends in KORA, Gökten, Zelal and Sezin, have become my comrades in this, sometimes, very painstaking process of writing. I would like to thank their guidance and their endless encouragement that illuminate my way. Their unwavering support made this dissertation possible. viii I would not have been able to bear sometimes very difficult periods of writing this thesis without the support of Aslan Yavuz Şir. He has provided me his knowledge, support and kept my spirit high during the gloomy days of the PhD. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to him. Last but not least, I thank my family, who supported me unconditionally. My mother, Melda Karadağ, my father, Besim Karadağ and my beloved friend, Firuze Balta, have shared my struggle through this journey. They have been always beside me. It is their love and support that rendered this study possible. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................ iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iv ÖZ .............................................................................................................................. vi DEDICATION ........................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ......................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................. x LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................... xiv LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... xvi LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................. xvii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introducing the Study .................................................................................... 1 1.2 Examining Georgian Europeanization from a Social Constructivist Perspective ................................................................................................................ 5 1.3 Methods ......................................................................................................... 9 1.3.1 Fieldwork Planning and Process .......................................................... 11 1.3.2. During the Fieldwork ........................................................................... 12 1.4 Organization of the Dissertation .................................................................. 15 2 DEBATES ON EUROPEANIZATION ............................................................. 18 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 18 2.2 Bridging the Classical and Contemporary European Integration Debates .. 20 2.3 New Paths, New Dimensions: Contemporary European Integration Debates ................................................................................................. 22 2.4 Emergence of the Europeanization Debate ................................................. 26 2.4.1. Defining Europeanization: Conceptual Debates