Post #63

Nation Building in Georgia and the Soviet Experience, Bryan Gigantino A fundamental paradox of how Georgian nationhood is conceptualized today is the seventy year experience of Soviet Georgia. On the one hand, Soviet Georgia was considered the “privileged” union republic in the Soviet Union, and was met with a steep economic and social decline following independence in 1991. Yet over the past thirty years, anti-Soviet memory politics have become a central tool of nation building in Georgia, used as everything from an explanation for national hardships such as war, ethnic conflict, and poverty, to a supposed anti-thesis of the essence of the Georgian national identity. But what does this Soviet experience really tell us about Georgian nationhood today? Bryan Gigantino is a Tbilisi-based writer who focuses on Soviet history and the post-Soviet politics. He is a cohost of the podcast Reimagining Soviet Georgia. Originally from the Bay Area, he now lives in Tbilisi, Georgia. Friday September 9th, 19:00, The Apollo Cinema, 135 Aghmashenebeli Ave. Entrance – any donation. The lecture will be delivered in English. With the streams and recordings of our lectures we support the project Helping to Leave: helpingtoleave.org/en Subscribe to the lecture program We Must Believe in Spring: instagram.com/wemustbelieveinspring t.me/wemustbelieveinspring youtube.com/channel/UCj3lSHtg1YLbHOlPnzOYIrg