Anxiety of treason in a small country: 'Russian agents' and disturbed identities in Georgia.

This paper is about treason and anxiety in a small country. In particular, it examines how anxiety of treason as a core political affect and as a form of collective sentimentality has been shaping Georgia's political culture, especially since independence. I approach treason first and foremost as a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:History & Anthropology Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 394 - 415
Main Author: Batiashvili, Nutsa
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Jul2024
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:This paper is about treason and anxiety in a small country. In particular, it examines how anxiety of treason as a core political affect and as a form of collective sentimentality has been shaping Georgia's political culture, especially since independence. I approach treason first and foremost as a category embedded in the collective memory narratives to demonstrate how it has been used to frame political processes. At the same time, I treat controversies involving accusations of treason as ramifications of collective anxiety over the notions of peoplehood and sovereignty in a small country.