National Identity and Georgia

Across the world, defining a national identity for a nation is often a complicated and intricate task. This is because each nation has unique characteristics (or borrowed characteristics) that make up its identity. Since national identity is difficult to understand, it is helpful to compare one nation to another nation. This allows certain characteristics to come to light as being vital and unique to a nation’s identity. National identity can be defined as features that are shared between “fellow-nationals” and characteristics that point out differences between the nation and other nations (Triandafyllidou, 2000, p. 595). Although Triandafyllidou defines national identity this way, she recognizes that it is multi-dimensional and that there is not one strict definition (Triandafyllidou, 2000, p. 594). National identity is difficult to pinpoint because it is fluid and it is constantly under construction. It is the combination of definitions from Triandafyllidou (and many more definitions from others that are not discussed) that encapsulates the idea of what national identity is. 
Georgia’s national identity is built around ethnicity, a sense of belonging, respecting laws and institutions, and language (Bogishvili, Osephashvili, Gavashelishvili, & Gugushvili, 2016, p. 60). Additionally, living in Georgia for a majority of one’s life, citizenship, being born in Georgia, religion, and "Europeanness" also contributes to Georgian national identity (Bogishvili et al., 2016, p. 60). It should be noted that some individuals contest these characteristics and that personal identity may conflict with the country’s identities (Smith, 1991). This means that the country’s national identity may differ from the way an individual feels about the nation. These characteristics can be broken down into civic and ethnic categories (Smith, 1991). A sense of feeling Georgian, language, ancestry, and religion fits under the ethnic category (Smith, 1991). On the other hand, language, laws and institutions, religion, having previously lived in Georgia, Georgian citizenship, and being born in Georgia fits under the category of civic (Smith, 1991). Language and religion are under both categories due to the fact that they are not fully ethnic or fully civic, they are in between them. 
The findings of a study conducted by the Center for Social Science (CSS) in Georgia in 2013 found that the majority of respondents recognize the main characteristic of national identity as “feeling Georgian” (80.5%) (Bogishvili et al., 2016, p. 60). Georgian identity recognizes two categories of Georgians in order to better understand what “feeling Georgian” means. The first group can be described as socially conservative which includes being ethnically Georgian, Orthodox, heterosexual, and following cultural traditions. The second group is made up of law-abiding citizens who are accepting of others (Bogishvili et al., 2016, p. 58). The unification of these two groups is very unlikely due to the fact that Georgian society is in a transitional phase of development (Bogishvili et al., 2016, p.65). 
The language of Georgian and its scripts are a key part of their identity because they are unique to the country. The one official language of Georgia is Georgian, and it uses the Georgian alphabet. Georgian is easily distinguished from other languages because it belongs to its own linguistic group. The study by CSS found that speaking the Georgian language came second in their national identity at 77.9% (Bogishvili et al., 2016, p.,60). Another vital component of Georgian identity is the Orthodox religion. This is shown through a majority of Georgians belonging to the Georgian Orthodox church and four Georgian crosses being represented on their flag. Bogishvili et al., (2016), point out that there is conflict between society and the church, according to young respondents in the CSS study. They believe that religion further divides society into believers and nonbelievers which suggests that civic-political beliefs are not thoroughly defined in society. The young respondents deem older Georgians as not being able to understand Europeanization yet. In comparison to the older participants who perceive European values as threatening and think that the nation should focus on values such as language, homeland, and faith, the younger respondents believe they should look to global innovations for future developments (Bogishvili et al., 2016, p.  67-68).
Using Triandafyllidou’s scholarly article, “National identity and the ‘other’”, Russia would be considered Georgia’s external significant other. This is due to the contested territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Socor, 2008). A five-day war began on August 7, 2008 between Russia and Georgia, with each side blaming the other for setting it off (Jones, 2008). Georgia had maintained a tense truce with Abkhazia and South Ossetia which held de facto independence with support from Russia’s military (Jones, 2008). Tensions started to rise when Georgia bid to join NATO, even though it was unsuccessful (Jones, 2008). When Russia sent forces to Abkhazia, Georgia viewed this as a move to take over the enclave (Jones, 2008). Georgia claimed that Russian forces moved on South Ossetia before Georgian forces started an attack aimed at retaking the region (Jones, 2008). However, Russia blames the Georgians for firing first. This conflict ended on August 10thdue to Georgian forces being outnumbered (Jones, 2008). Shortly after this, Russian forces went through Abkhazia in an effort to take over the Kodori Gorge which is the only Georgian-controlled area of the territory (Jones, 2008). The conflict resulted in western leaders demanding Russia to pull-back (Jones, 2008). Abkhazia and South Ossetia are recognized as independent states by Russia which is successful through its military support.  (CIA, 2019). These events have continued to sour Georgia and Russia’s relationship today and have strengthened Georgia’s desire to not be associated with Russia. 
Because of this, Georgia is sure to emphasize their ethnicity and culture to set themselves apart from Russia. These characteristics are emphasized on their unique language and scripts because it is distinctly Georgian. The Georgian language and scripts clearly distinguish Russia from Georgia. However, a key component of Georgian culture is the Orthodox church which is also the largest practiced religion in Russia. The Eastern Orthodox Church (and in turn their religious beliefs) is a shared characteristic between Russia and Georgia. 
Georgia’s language, scripts, religion, and external significant other are all key components of identifying Georgian national identity. These aspects have created and strengthened Georgian national identity in order to differentiate themselves from their external significant other (Russia) and the entire world. Although these aspects are essential to the identity of Georgia currently, its society is currently changing as they adopt more European characteristics. As the country becomes less socially conservative, the national identity will change and evolve in the future. 

References
Bogishvili, D., Osephashvili, I., Gavashelishvili, E., & Gugushvili N. (2016). Georgian National 
Identity: Conflict and Integration. Retrieved from http://css.ge/files/Books/Books/CSS_georgian_national_identity-Conflict_and_integration.pdf
Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). Georgia. The World Factbook. Retrieved from
          https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gg.html
Central Intelligence Agency. (2019). Russia. The World Factbook. Retrieved from
         https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/rs.html
Jones, Stephen. (2008). Clash in the Caucasus: Georgia, Russia, and the fate of South Ossetia. 
Origins, 2(2). Retrieved from http://origins.osu.edu/article/clash-caucasus-georgia-russia-and-fate-south-ossetia
Smith, A. D. (1991). National identity. Reno: University of Nevada Press.
Socor, V. (2008, May 21). Moscow Encourages North-South Ossetian Irredentism Against 
Georgia. Eurasia Daily Monitor, 5(97). Retrieved from 
https://jamestown.org/program/moscow-encourages-north-south-ossetian-irredentism-against-georgia/
Triandafyllidou, A. (1998). National identity and the “other”. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(4), 
593-612.  Retrieved from https://doiorg.proxy.seattleu.edu/10.1080/014198798329784

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