On September 8-11, in Saguramo, “Caucasian House” held the training on the topic “Introduction of conflict-sensitive teaching in Georgian schools”. The participants of the training were Georgian school history teachers. The invited international trainers introduced Georgian teachers to the existing experience of teaching controversial history in post-conflict societies. Among the discussed topics were: What does conflict-sensitive teaching mean and why do we need it? The role of school education and history in peacebuilding; Different models and methods of writing about of ethno-political conflicts in the school history textbook, etc. The training took place within the framework of the “Caucasian House”…
Author: rd_adm
Rezi Koiava A framework explaining the Soviet model of societal development centered around a dramatic confrontation between the Russian and the anti-Russian had dominated the Soviet research over the course of many decades. This was an easy approach to explain relationships between a political center and a periphery with the center trying to russify the periphery with all their might while the periphery resisting by means of cultivating local languages and ethnic cultures. [1] However, in the process of using just black and white colors, a plethora of ethnopolitical relations and confrontations slipped through the cracks. These confrontations had impregnated…
The purpose of this purblication is to assess the current dynamics of conflict transformation in Georgia and to analyze the impact of domestic and regional actors on the peace processes. This publication has been prepared within the framework of the Caucasus House “Peace and Integration Program”. Download
Khatuna Maisashvili Associate Professor at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Ph.D. in Mass Communications Abstract The article’s goal is to probe into the specifics of conflict sensitivity in fiction texts created in the bosom of Georgian culture after the conflict between Georgians and Abkhazians entered a post-occupation “frozen” phase. To that end, internationally acclaimed Georgian cinematic works are analyzed for narratology framework based on Proppian narrative structure, on one hand, and Roland Barthes’s system of narrative codes, on the other. Works for analysis were selected not just for their acclaim. Instead, the researcher was also drawn to the differences defining…
Revaz Koiava Myths, Symbols and Politics For decades, Soviet studies had been dominated by the concept that one of the main dramatic moments in the development of the Soviet social model was the confrontation between the Russian and the anti-Russian. In this sense, the relationship between the political center and its subordinate periphery was easily explained: the center tried with all its force to Russify the periphery, while the periphery opposed to it in every way, cultivating local languages and ethnic culture[1]. This approach was based on the model of the British colonial empire, which was used to interpret political…
Ethno-political conflicts that took place in Georgia, at the beginning of the 1990s, still shape the country’s political agenda and development trajectory. History textbooks are often seen as the vehicle through which nations seek to disseminate the official version of history, and hence, it is of a crucial importance how textbooks are written. What do we choose to remember and what do we forget? What knowledge do we choose to pass to the new generation about these conflicts? How should we analyze and represent the past in a way that provides means to promote greater understanding and mutual respect instead…
Kathryn Butterworth – Intern at Caucasian House; University of Massachusetts, Boston Global Governance and Human Security Romani populations across Europe have long been and remain a targeted minority throughout history, and as such, disenfranchised from civil society. The political and social upheaval, particularly in Europe and Eurasia during the first half of the twentieth century impacted Romani groups as well as other minorities. This period also witnessed the fall of once great empires and the social-political infrastructure that accompanied them, most notably the Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman Empires. Like many others, Romani suffered through major turmoil such as the Holomodor (which…
Maxim van Asseldonk – Radboud University Nijmegen, Intern at Caucasian House The importance of Rustaveli Avenue is hard to overstate. Besides its historical value, Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare has long functioned as one of the city’s most vital political stages. Occupy Rustaveli, and Tbilisi grinds to a halt (de Waal 2010, 46-48). Strolling along the avenue, tourists and locals alike will eventually come across the Georgian parliament building, the steps in front of which have for months been endowed with a handful of makeshift tents, displaying flags and political manifestations. These public displays of discontent are hard to miss. Yet, while the…
Esma Gumberidze Chairperson of Platform for New Opportunities NGO representing women with disabilities The Blog is prepared under the framework of lecture course by Caucasus House – Civil Education and Peacebuilding Property Rights of Women in Georgian Legislation Property right is one of the fundamental human rights. As far back as in 17th century, English philosopher John Locke identified it as one out of three natural rights. Property right is guaranteed by Article 21, Chapter 2 (Basic Human Rights and Freedoms) of the Constitution of Georgia, which means that the document recognises property right as one of the fundamental human…
This research aims to provide thorough description and analysis of the peace policy of the central government in Georgia from the 1990s up to 2016 focusing on the settlement of conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It has to be noted that the research intentionally bypasses Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian civic dialogue process, which although believed to be complementary to the peace policy, should be a subject of separate research. The paper follows the timeline and analyzes the dynamics of Tbilisi’s relations with Sukhumi and Tskhinvali from various perspectives focusing on the role of individuals, political parties, countries or global context.…
