Papers by Boris Komakhidze
Central Asian Survey 43(4), 2024
This article traces an ethnography-based analysis of the historical Poti port as it has been soci... more This article traces an ethnography-based analysis of the historical Poti port as it has been socially imagined through the lenses of ideological transformations. Situated at a nexus of Black Sea trading infrastructure, the city of Poti has been known as the gateway of Georgia, between Asia and Europe. The port, in its current location since the late nineteenth century, has been an economic asset to colonial powers (Russian Tsarist, Soviet state-socialist) and neoliberal economic agendas. Its infrastructure, which encompasses a specific field of trading and transit functions, encapsulates a social layer while affecting the daily lives of inhabitants. People’s reflections on either development or decay can evoke emotional perceptions of and reflections on this urban infrastructure. Living and producing infrastructure, gazing at constructed landscapes and associating oneself with particular spatial reflections all have an immersive effect on the city’s morale, evoking feelings of pride, shame and uncertainty. Thus, I aim to present in what sense the port is attached in people’s reflections to these emotional domains. I contend that specific neoliberal ideological experiences set the area of Poti port morally and socially apart from the inhabitants’ everyday reflections.
Urbanities (12)1, 2022
This article addresses architectural visibility as a social construct marked by religious element... more This article addresses architectural visibility as a social construct marked by religious elements that use an ideological cartography to define public space. The analysis addresses architectural visibility and post-Soviet religiosity in Georgian urban areas. It looks at how post-Soviet religious materiality is taking place in the Georgian city of Poti through the management of sites of worship by the Georgian Orthodox Church. I seek to understand the dynamics of the social perception of the architectural reorganization of public space. This setting was previously dominated by Soviet secularism, which imprisoned Poti's Cathedral and its location as a Soviet theatre, turning it into an ideological instrument. Drawing on ethnographic research, the discussion explores the social reflections and the architectural reorganization of this central building, which is key to the identity of the city. Focusing on the post-Soviet visibility of religious architecture, I argue that the New Hagia Sophia Cathedral marks a new visual landscape that underlines the post-Soviet re-establishment of religion and the increasing power of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
JEMIE 20(2), 2021
This paper aims to understand the post-Communist religious transformations that determine the pro... more This paper aims to understand the post-Communist religious transformations that determine the process of questioning and shifting religious identity among Yezidi women from Armenia and Georgia. We discuss gender and religiosity in relation to the internal and external social and political context as influenced by Soviet atheism. The status of women among Yezidis is constructed by traditional religious norms and societal structures, which are influenced by the ideological politics (Communism, post-Communism) of the state of residence. Our findings show that Yezidis, like other religious communities in post-Soviet Armenia and Georgia, are actively involved in the institutionalization of religious norms. The institutionalization of religion within transitive society seems to have the potential to lead to a decline in trust, resulting in the establishment of new institutions, the separation of personal attribution and religious normative practices, and serves as a catalyst for questioning and changing religious identity. In particular, the article aims to understand how post-Communist religious transformations have re/shaped the identity of Yezidi women from Georgia and Armenia, as well as how the internal and external social contexts impact this course of action. We argue that changing political ideologies (Communism, which granted rights to Yezidi
New DIVERSITIES (23) 2 , 2021
This article addresses the way post-Soviet religious visibility and materiality are taking place ... more This article addresses the way post-Soviet religious visibility and materiality are taking place in the Georgian port city of Batumi through the organization of sites of worship by the Christian religious minorities. In particular, it attempts to understand the strategies of Catholic and Protestant religious communities to materialize their religious identities in post-Soviet Batumi, something which predominately proceeds alongside the arrangements of the majority religious community. This article is based upon ethnographic research in Batumi where political ideologies have constantly determined the religious identity of the city. Focusing on the small Christian communities in Batumi and their strategies of post-Soviet religious revival through materializing sites of worship in the city, I investigate post-Soviet public religiosity in the multi-religious urban area, where encounters of mainstream faith and religious minorities characterize the religious identity of the city. More specifically, I argue that increasing the power and dominance of the major religious organization determines the public religious landscape of post-Soviet Batumi where organizing Catholic and Protestant places in the urban area of the city is characterized by the consequences of the public visibility and materiality of power of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
the-problem-of-ethno-religious-identitytransformation-on-the-example-of-yazidis-of-georgia?fbclid... more the-problem-of-ethno-religious-identitytransformation-on-the-example-of-yazidis-of-georgia?fbclid=IwAR02NEqUtmYobSVS3IF9uWS01MX6O1ze-Epguy1c_4ERtLNhN4dOCy5mb_k) (https:
საქართველოს პარლამენტის ერვონული ბიბლიოთეკის ახალგაზრდა ჰუმანიტართა I კონფერენციის მასალების კრებული, 2019
Analytical Bulletin, 2017
This article discusses the correlation between private and public life of
scientists in the Sovie... more This article discusses the correlation between private and public life of
scientists in the Soviet Union by focusing on the case of prominent
Georgian ethnographer Vera Bardavelidze. This research seeks to clarify
one of the aspects of social life of the Soviet Georgia: when Soviet
ideology tightly controlled and implemented policies of high surveillance
over peoples’ lives. Exploring the relationship between one’s private and
public life during the Soviet period in the context of the theory of
social/public spaces is a relatively new branch of study in Georgia. The
subject of this research provides an opportunity to clearly follow the
“bottom-up” perspective rather than the “top-down” approach, which is
generally utilized in the context of the Soviet era’s official policy. The
aforementioned perspective enables scholars to fill existing gaps in this
field. This research presents exterior loyalty as an opportunity of preserving
internal freedom.
მასალები საქართველოს ეთნოგრაფიისათვის, 2023
xuciSvili (ivane javaxiSvilis saxelobis Tbilisis saxelmwifo universitetis istoriisa da eTnologiis... more xuciSvili (ivane javaxiSvilis saxelobis Tbilisis saxelmwifo universitetis istoriisa da eTnologiis instituti) redkolegia: doqt. nino mindaZe (ivane javaxiSvilis saxelobis Tbilisis saxelmwifo universitetis istoriisa da eTnologiis instituti), doqt. giorgi WeiSvili (ivane javaxiSvilis saxelobis Tbilisis saxelmwifo universitetis istoriisa da eTnologiis instituti), doqt. nino abakelia (ilias saxelmwifo universiteti), doqt. qerol fuSe (edinburgis universiteti), doqt. suzane felingsi (frankfurtis goeTes universiteti), doqt. valeri vaSakiZe (ivane javaxiSvilis saxelobis Tbilisis saxelmwifo universitetis istoriisa da eTnologiis instituti)
მასალები საქართველოს ეთნოგრაფიისათვის, 2021
საქართველოს ბიბლიოთეკეა, 2020
ქართული მხარეთმცოდნეობის სათავეებთან , 2023
მასალები საქართველოს ეთნოგრაფიისათვის , 2022
სტატიაში განხილულია ურბანული მეხსიერების ტრანსფორმაციის პროცესი საპორტო ქალაქ ფოთში. კერძოდ, ნარა... more სტატიაში განხილულია ურბანული მეხსიერების ტრანსფორმაციის პროცესი საპორტო ქალაქ ფოთში. კერძოდ, ნარატივი ანტიკური ფაზისისა და ფოთის იგივეობის შესახებ და მისი გააზრების ტენდენცია „ურბანული რეჟიმების“24 ცვლილების კონტექსტში. მეხსიერება და ქალაქის მთავარი ნარატივების (Master Narratives) რეინტერპრეტაციაგადააზრებით ურბანული რეჟიმის (იდეოლოგიურპოლიტიკური დისკურსის) ლეგიტიმაცია ხდება.
სტუდენტური წელიწდეული ჰუმანიტარული კვლევები, 4., 2020
Uploads
Papers by Boris Komakhidze
scientists in the Soviet Union by focusing on the case of prominent
Georgian ethnographer Vera Bardavelidze. This research seeks to clarify
one of the aspects of social life of the Soviet Georgia: when Soviet
ideology tightly controlled and implemented policies of high surveillance
over peoples’ lives. Exploring the relationship between one’s private and
public life during the Soviet period in the context of the theory of
social/public spaces is a relatively new branch of study in Georgia. The
subject of this research provides an opportunity to clearly follow the
“bottom-up” perspective rather than the “top-down” approach, which is
generally utilized in the context of the Soviet era’s official policy. The
aforementioned perspective enables scholars to fill existing gaps in this
field. This research presents exterior loyalty as an opportunity of preserving
internal freedom.
scientists in the Soviet Union by focusing on the case of prominent
Georgian ethnographer Vera Bardavelidze. This research seeks to clarify
one of the aspects of social life of the Soviet Georgia: when Soviet
ideology tightly controlled and implemented policies of high surveillance
over peoples’ lives. Exploring the relationship between one’s private and
public life during the Soviet period in the context of the theory of
social/public spaces is a relatively new branch of study in Georgia. The
subject of this research provides an opportunity to clearly follow the
“bottom-up” perspective rather than the “top-down” approach, which is
generally utilized in the context of the Soviet era’s official policy. The
aforementioned perspective enables scholars to fill existing gaps in this
field. This research presents exterior loyalty as an opportunity of preserving
internal freedom.