Hotbilder och nationell samhörighet i Georgien

Abstract

”Threat Perceptions and National Community in Georgia” addresses perceived threats as obstacles to the development of national community in the country. The article focuses on the interaction between threatening perceptions of the other on the internal and external political arenas, as these are formulated by Georgian government officials and members of the Armenian minority settled in the Javakheti region respectively. The material partly consists of previous research in this field, but primarily of interviews conducted during a field study in Georgia during May and June 2005. The article elaborates on how problems in government-minority relations are reinforced due to differing threat perceptions, which adds to the difficulties of constructively managing Georgian interethnic relations. The problematic nature of this relationship becomes all the more obvious when put into relation with threat perceptions on the external arena, specifically the parties quite different views on Russia’s role in Georgian politics. It is concluded that differing threat perceptions is a pressing issue in today’s Georgia, since these provide obstacles to societal inclusion of minorities and hamper the development of a national community crucial to a civic conception of the nation.