Mobilization of Queer and Feminist Organizations in Georgia amid the War in Ukraine

Abstract

The research explores how the war in Ukraine echoes in Georgia. Specifically, how the issue of war has mobilized the queer and feminist organizations in Georgia since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine; it tackles the issues of reviving past interstate trauma, anxiety over Russian migration, and civil society resistance against the conservative government in Georgia. Furthermore, it explores moral dilemmas, societal polarization, and to what extent long-lasting contestation over Georgia’s European identity and perceptions about neighboring countries (Russia and Ukraine) has evolved amid the war.

The research utilizes theoretical concepts derived from conflict contagion and conflict clouds, social identity theory, self-categorization theory, international images theory, social movement theory, and opportunity and threat perceptions. These theories and concepts illuminate that crisis events and immediate threat perceptions emanating from relatively powerful states in neighborhoods can affect identities and instigate discourses that fit their national and issue-specific causes. Conflict narratives and discourses travel through the borders and acquire different meanings in a new environment. The perceived threats trigger societies to shift the images about different countries engaged in violence and motivate them to demand their government pursue a more assertive foreign policy towards the perpetrator. Furthermore, the perception of immediate threats and opportunities mobilizes citizens to protest against conservative and irresponsive regimes, especially when their governments ward off their dissent and ignore their claims.

The research findings suggest that Georgia’s queer and feminist organizations participated in spreading information and alternative narratives about the war in Ukraine, crafting and making it fit the local audience in Georgia and, in this way, utilizing the information for their own cause. Moreover, the organizations exhibited anxiety over Russian migration, which is why they restrained from support and collaboration with Russian LGBT migrants and queer activities who settled in Georgia in the course of the war. Finally, the organizations demonstrated mobilization and resistance against their own government, which they considered to be pro-Russian. They closed the channels with elite allies and moved from collaborative to more confrontational repertoires and disruptive tactics of expressing dissent towards their authorities, demanding to distance themselves from Russia and have more pronounced acts of solidarity with Ukraine.

The research was based on studying local queer and feminist organizations in Georgia that actively took part in protests as well as those who abstained from public discussions from February 2022 to February 2024. The research has a qualitative design and brings forward a feminist conception of rhetorical discourse analysis. The primary data was extracted from the organizations’ public statements and online communication channels. Additionally, it relies on the interviews conducted with the representatives of Georgian queer and feminist organizations.