Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
Abstract
Building a single national identity has been one of the most difficult phases in the process of nation-building in various societies. Common definition of itself and the formation of inter-minds understanding of a single nation beyond the existing ethnic identities, has led to building an inclusive national identity and this issue provides the required ground for the advancement of nation-building process. Realization of this issue depends on the performance of the elites in creating consensus among ethnic groups and the willingness of diverse ethnic identities to participate in the process of building national identity. This is particularly very significant in the areas, where other multiple ethnic identities live in constant tension with each other. South Caucasus region is one of the regions, which due to the existence of hostile ethnic groups, is considered as a unique example in studying the national identity building of the “post-Soviet”. In this region, Georgia is considered as a failed example in the arena of building national identity and nation-building.
In this regard, the question of this article is: What were the main obstacles in building national identity in Georgia and what was the impact of these factors on the process of nation-building in this country? The hypothesis of the article is also elaborated as follows: the interaction of two factors; the reluctance of the diverse ethnic groups in a common definition of themselves as a single nation and also the Georgian elites’ performance, in order to marginalize the ethnic minorities in the process of building national identity, along with the impact of the Soviet Union’s legacy, has been the most important factors in the lack of national identity formation in Georgia and subsequently, its failure in the country's nation-building process. The method used in this article, is descriptive-analytical method, through using the library tools.
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