Foreign Orientation as an Identity Factor in the Georgian Governmental Discourse
Abstract
During the entire history of Georgia, despite the territorial distance, the feeling of rapprochement with Europe and affiliation to its values was always challenging for the Georgian government. This idea is shortly and exhaustively expressed in former Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania’s historic address at the European Council in 1999 when he said: "I am Georgian and therefore I am European" (Jvania, 2013: 1).Our paper will discuss Georgia's European orientation as a determinant in identity development after regaining independence in 1991. Among the various internal and external difficulties in these days, Georgia also faced the problem of choosing its foreign political orientation. President Shevardnadze once noted, "Economic and political rapprochement with Europe and full integration with it is the main priority of Georgia's foreign political course. “,We will analyze the attitudes of Georgian presidents toward political orientation. Despite the differences in opinions, one thing is explicit: all of them understood the importance of integration with Europe, and all of them have made some steps toward it, which recently resulted in visa liberalization with EU member countries.References
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Bauman, Z. (2000). Liquid modernity. Cambridge, UK: Malden, MA: Polity Press; Blackwell,
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Castells, Manuel, (2001). The Internet galaxy: reflections on the Internet, business, and society. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
Davies, B., and Harré R. (1990). Positioning: The Discursive Production of Selves. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 20, 43-63.
Gellner, E. (1983). Nations and Nationalism, Oxford, Blackwell
Hintz, L. (2018). Identity Politics Inside Out: National Identity Contestation and Foreign Policy in Turkey. New York: Oxford University Press, 232p.
Holsti, O. R. (1968). "Content Analysis," in Gardner Lindzey and E. Aronson, eds., Handbook of Social Psychology, Vol 2. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
Hroch, M. (2007). Comparative Studies in Modern European History: Nation, Nationalism, Social Change, Ashgate: Aldershot, 320 pp.
Jvania Z, (2013), Georgian Journal; "I am Georgian, and therefore I am European – Historic
Speech at the European Council", 10.12. 2913; https://www.georgianjournal.ge/politics/25618-i- am-Georgian-and-therefore-i-am-european--zurab-zhvanias-historic-speech-at-the-european-council.html (retrieved in 20.06.2018)
Kesgin, B. (2019) Uncharacteristic foreign policy behavior: Sharon’s decision to withdraw from Gaza, International Area Studies Review, Volume 22. Issue 1. Pages 76-92
Kroskrity, P. (2010). Language ideologies – evolving perspectives, University of California at Los Angeles, https://doi.org/10.1075/hoph.7.13kro
Smith, A. (1991). National identity. London: Penguin Books.
Tajfel, H., and Forgas, J. (2000). Social categorization: Cognitions, values and groups. Psychology https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Social-categorization%3A-Cognitions%2C-values-and-Tajfel-Forgas/f3b75e5c2556eb05aab8a8e9c1d5445cc549d6aa
Van Dijk, T.A. (1998) Ideology. London: Sage.
Versluys, E. The notion of identity in discourse analysis: some @discourse analytical@ remarks. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-notion-of-identity-in-discourse-analysis%3A-some-Versluys/14d0597b573d5e967af3eda806a9ee9b20912482
Published
2021-02-11
How to Cite
DUNDUA, Salome; KARAIA, Tamar; ABASHIDZE, Zviad.
Foreign Orientation as an Identity Factor in the Georgian Governmental Discourse.
Eastern Europe Regional Studies, [S.l.], feb. 2021.
ISSN 2587-456X.
Available at: <https://test.psage.tsu.ge/index.php/Easternstudies/article/view/344>. Date accessed: 25 dec. 2024.
Issue
Section
Articles
Keywords
Europe, Discourse, Identity, presidents of Georgia; foreign policy
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