CRRC, American Councils and ARISC are proud to present the 20th talk of the Works-in-Progress Series for the Spring 2013 Season!
Zviad Diasamidze, Tbilisi State UniversityDustin Gilbreath, Heinrich Böll Stiftung
“The Radical Reproduction of Transitions in Georgia since Independence”
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 6:15pmISET/CRRC Georgia, Zandukeli St. 16, Tbilisi, GEORGIA
Abstract: The presentation argues that Georgia, since independence, has undergone the reproduction of radical transitions whereby a critical mass of opposition is formed politically and socially, a consolidating event then occurs which is shortly followed by a transition of authority. Once a new authority gains de jure recognition of power it then goes about a process of state capture that aims to consolidate and personalize its hold through changes to institutional design and legislative procedures. These processes further set in motion a process wherein as a regime is consolidated it is simultaneously isolated through its marginalization and exclusion of elites and non-elites alike. This causes opposition to spring up in society once again and the diffusion of support for opposition parties is given impetus from the back drop of a consistently weak economic state of affairs in the country despite improvements during various regimes. Upon the appearance of both a viable opposition and the occurrence of a consolidating event a transition is then again born.
Zviad Diasamidze is a doctoral student at Tbilisi State University in the Political Science Department and is currently studying under Professor Korneli Kakachia. He graduated from Munich University with a master’s degree in political science. His master’s thesis dealt with issues of transformation processes in Georgia.
Dustin Gilbreath has worked in Georgia for the past several years and is applying to graduate programs in social and cultural anthropology. He has worked on various academic projects with Heinrich Boll Stiftung’s South Caucasus Office, The Tbilisi Economics and Statistics Institute, and most recently has been a research assistant under Tamta Khalvashi for her PhD dissertation in socio-cultral anthropology related to temporality and materiality in Batumi.
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W-i-P is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the International School of Economics (ISET) building (16 Zandukeli Street). It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.The purpose of the W-i-P series is to provide support and productive criticism to those researching and developing academic projects pertaining the Caucasus region.Would you like to present at one of the W-i-P sessions? Send an e-mail to natia@crrccenters.org.
