Utilitarian and Identity Factors in Georgians’ Political and Popular Discourses on Europeanisation

The paper discusses Georgians’ political and popular discourses on Europeanisation based on the recent research project entitled “Performing Europeanisation – Political vis-à-vis Popular Discourses on Europeanisation in Georgia” (2014-2016). The project was led by the author and supported by Academic Swiss Caucasus Net (ASCN). In-depth interviews with the political and intellectual elites and focus groups with the population have revealed that Georgians’ political and popular discourses are guided by utilitarian and identity factors. What is remarkable though is that on the declarative level, the participants offer socially desirable narratives on the EU and Europeanisation that are in compliance with Georgia’s foreign policy course though rather equivocal narratives are revealed behind this façade. This ambivalence can be traced while discussing not only the changes that Georgian identity might undergo in the process of Europeanisation, but also utilitarian factors such as the country’s security, economic growth and a new experience of doing politics.